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THE 



PENETRALIA 



BEING 



HARMONIAL ANSWERS 



TO 



IMPORTANT QUESTIONS. 



By ANDREW JACKSON DAVIS, 

AUTHOR OF SEVERAL, VOLUMES OX THE HARMONIAL PHILOSOPHY. 



t^ 



»*' 



The power to put a question presupposes and guarantees the power no less to answer it. 

See page 14. 



f/S& 



BOSTON: 
PUBLISHED BY BELA MARSH, 15 FRANKLIN ST. 

1856. 






\% 5 



Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1856, 

By ANDREW JACKSON DAVIS, 

in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States in and for the 
Southern District of New York. 



SAVAGE & MPCKEA, STEREOTYPEKS, 
13 Chambers Street, N. Y. 



y 



1 



<0 



/ 6*-? 



PREFACE. 



From time to time, during the past three years, the Author 
has been interrogated on almost every topic; frequently by 
letter, sometimes orally, and naturally by the subjects them- 
selves while undergoing examination. 

This volume ' is designed and fraternally submitted as a re- 
sponsum, or reply, to such questions as have appeared most 
important and serviceable to Mankind. 

" Penetralia" is a Latin term, signifying the inmost or 
" secret recesses" of a palace, temple, idea, or principle. 

Accordant with the spirit of this word, the Author has 
penetrated the hidden and sequestered parts of numerous 
questions, of the most momentous import to every human mind. 

From the spiritual interior — from the penetralia of the im- 
perishable Univercoelum — the essence of each answer was 
derived. Nevertheless, the method is familiar as the ordinary 
deductions of the intellect. 

The Author does not presume to believe that his replies 
will be either final or gratifying to those who occupy different 
positions in regard to the several subjects considered. And 
yet, his spirit is animated with the hope that, to such minds, 
the following pages may suggest even more than they express, 
of high thoughts and saving principles. 



M 



4 PREFACE. 

The motive that actuates the spirit of this "Penetralia" 
is, to cause a diviner faith to shine in the heart of human 
nature. 

In order to accomplish this glorious result, it states the 
questions in a variety of forms, and answers them in plain 
words and familiar illustrations : 

It probes the various departments of human existence, and 
considers both the ordinary and extraordinary, the sensuous 
and celestial : 

It reaches down to the very foundation of Nature's trifold 
Temple, and conducts the philosophical reader through pleas- 
urable labyrinths innumerable : 

It sweeps the chords of creation, sings the sweet anthemnal 
song of Eternal Harmony, and awakens aspirations toward 
Love, Wisdom, and Liberty. 

A. J. D 

New York, June 12, 1856. 



CONTENTS. 



The Philosophy op Questions and Answers page 7 

The Assembly's Shorter Catechism, Eevised and Corrected . 25 

Questions on Life, Local and Universal ... 61 

Questions on Theo-Physiology 75 

Questions on the Despotism op Opinion 87 

Questions on the Martyrdom op Jesus 101 

Questions on the Myths op Modern Theology 131 

Questions on the Evidences op Immortality 153 

Questions on the Effects of Utilitarianism 213 

Questions on the Origin and Perpetuity of Character . . . 253 
Questions on the Benefits and Penalties of Individualism . . 283 
Questions on the Benefits and Penalties of Institutionalism 301 

PSYCHOMETRICAL EXAMINATION OP WlLLIAM LLOYD GARRISON . .319 



THE 



PHILOSOPHY OF QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS, 



Politically and theologically, the human mind is in bond- 
age ; but constitutionally and spiritually, it is free as Deity. 
Its thoughts, regardless of the barriers of time and space, fly 
on swiftest pinions everywhere. Everlasting mountains, though 
piled up and lost in clouds, are but play-grounds. Thoughts, 
in good minds, are angels. The mind, fearfully and wonderfully 
made, composes itself in harmony ; and, like a demi-god, com- 
missions its Thoughts to do the out-door work. By sober re- 
flection, who can trace the rovings of Thought ? Thoughts, the 
mind's children, play in Nature's fields. On eager wing, they 
fly down the long ages gone, perch themselves on the begin- 
nings of life, and answer questions as by the breathings of in- 
tuition. The varied journeyings of these angels are hard to 
trace. Like birds of another sphere, endowed with functions 
of fleetest motion, men's Thoughts revel amid stars, and play 
fearlessly with shining hosts, where, one would say, only high- 
est seraphs dare to tread. Meanwhile the mind, clothed with 
the physical vesture, sits in judgment upon the tales of 
Thought — pronouncing them "good" or "evil" by an in- 
ward law of Justice eternal. In great and good minds, all 
thoughts are harmonious and meek ; but the thoughts of small 
minds fret and strut, like puppets in a showman's box. 

Taking the risk of shocking your experience, I begin with 
the affirmation, that the human mind is possessed of no power 



8 THE PHILOSOPHY OF 

or function whereby to conceive or suppose things and ideas 
which do not essentially exist. I do not believe that man can 
fancy impossibilities. Every human thought begins in the 
essence of truth. And yet, on either side of this mighty river 
of currental truth, you will find the noxious weeds of diminu- 
tion or of exaggeration. In all inferior stages of human 
growth, you will observe persons born with proclivities either 
for diminishing or else for exaggerating things, which pro- 
duce ideas. Diminishers are called skeptics; the exaggera- 
tors, idealists. The former dwell in facts ; the latter in prin- 
ciples. Those unjustly termed " skeptics" believe only in the 
Finite — in things cognizable by means of the senses; while 
believers are skeptics in matters of fact, and concern them- 
selves only with the Infinite — in ideas of the illimitable and 
boundless. Error so called is to be found, in large or infini- 
tessimal proportions, on these two sides of Life. Each mind 
starts from the central depot, and rides to directly opposite ex- 
tremities of the Universe. 

What men term "Imagination," I deem the mind's power 
" to body forth (prophetically) the forms of things unknown" 
— things, which live inherently in the constitution of the soul, 
but which may not have met their corresponding symbols in 
the external world. The idealist entertains primarily the 
church and the state in his mind. Picture and statue existed 
first in the artist's mind. In the mechanic's mind, the first 
railroad was laid, the first steam-engine built. There was, 
therefore, a time when church and state, statue and picture, 
railroads and locomotives, were simple unsymbolized Ideas. 
The skeptics (the men of the finite or facts) stigmatized them 
" Imaginations." Many a merchant mourned, with contemptu- 
ous pity, over the steamboat fancies of John Fitch and Robert 
Eulton ! The first steamboat was built and launched and pro- 
pelled up and down the broad rivers of Reflection in John 
Fitch's, and more particularly in Fulton's mind. Time was 
when this steam-phantom excited the ridicule of sensuous minds. 
But do you say this phantom has not come into practical life ? 
If so, I reply that the most extravagant imaginations of Fulton 
are surpassed by the commonest engines of the workshops. 



QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS. 9 

You must not accuse me of skepticism, but rather look within, 
and condemn yourselves. I doubt what the world believes, in 
many things, because I behold so much which I can not doubt. 

If I were to classify the three departments of human thought, 
I should say that Man is an Indefinite world, situated between 
the Finite and the Infinite — or that there are three worlds in 
which his thoughts may eternally roam and be gratified. Man 
is to himself the Indefinite sphere; and thus "all our knowl- 
edge is ourselves to know." This is the only knowledge that 
can humble the mind ; it is the knowing to a certainty that we 
are ignorant. Thus, before self-knowledge we reverently bow ; 
as in the presence of some God both strange and undefinable. 
But pride comes in with the outward, finite sciences. Give a 
man to feel that he knows the science of the stars, Astronomy, 
and forthwith he straightens his spine when before his fellow- 
men. Give him to know the science of the earth, Geology ; 
or the science of quantities, Mathematics ; or the science of 
qualities, Chemistry ; or the science of solids and surfaces, 
Geometry ; and straightway he becomes the child of Vanity 
and Ambition. Especially is this true in minds which only 
know the fragmentary facts of these sciences — a sort of 
" smattering" information — such as floats upon the surface of 
modern newspapers and periodic literature ; but, mingle with 
these sciences the fundamental principles of self-knowledge, 
and you humble the mind rn reverence before the God of its 
being, and a true humility is inevitable. We may ask, " Why 
does self-knowledge or wisdom so alter the current of man's 
feelings ?" Because it opens to the soul two great overwhelm- 
ing worlds of being, not visible in the Finite sphere, viz., the 
Indefinite, which is himself, and the Infinite, to which he feels 
himself instinctively and eternally related — the private won- 
der of each mind. 

Let the curtain be but partially raised which has so long 
hung between his present and his future, and Man sees himself 
as an unsolved problem. And here begins an infinite series of 
questions and anstvers. Man stands, before his brother man, 
with questions. Each one discovers in himself a desire to 
know ; hence the hundreds of thousands of millions of billions 



10 THE PHILOSOPHY OF 

of trillions of questions which swarm the fields of human expe- 
rience. The mind asks questions, orally and in silence, be- 
cause it is itself a world of interrogation ; but, when we tell 
all, it is found to be no less a world of answers at once simple, 
fearful, wonderful, satisfying. 

The questions of man, in regard to his Infinite relations, have 
built monuments of useless theology. Poems and precepts and 
bibles have been written to answer these ever-rising questions. 
Cathedrals and churches have arisen, to sound the replies in 
hundreds of ears at once. The infinite has been interrogated ; 
but lesser worlds have alone returned answers. 

And so methinks it will ever be. The Infinite will never 
answer the finite ; except through its never-changing channels 
of consciousness. If a man can ask a profound question, there 
is a power latent in his nature not less able to reply ; that is to 
say, the ability rightly to put a question presupposes the ability 
rightly to answer it — even as all spiritual desires are inward 
assurances of ultimate satisfaction. 

When faithful memory shows me the feeble lineaments of 
my early experience, as an interior being, I quickly recall the 
kind words and questions that were pronounced in my awa- 
kened ear. My soul had slept in childish ignorance till then. 
Questions only of the common sort — such as people use in 
plainest modes of thought — were familiar to my ear and 
tongue. But what wondrous words came to my lips, in an- 
swer, when I heard — " Jackson ! what do you see ?" The high 
unfolding of Infinite truth seemed to flash athwart the horizon 
of my awakened perceptions. No sunbeams of spirtual light 
ever gilded the heavenly hills more tenderly, than did these 
truths irradiate my mental sky. But I realized nothing till I 
heard the question. No power was given me to answer then. 
But from that day to this, I have labored to tell the outer 
world what the inner world tells me ! 

And now, if I may be permitted still to speak of myself, I 
affirm, that whether I am a benefit or a penalty to you remains 
with you to decide. In you lies the power to determine the 
question of profit or loss. Steam and stars are valuable, or 



QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS. 11 

not, as you learn the art of putting to them the right ques- 
tions, and procuring from them the best practical replies. You 
may ask steam, " What can you do ?" It answers, " Clothe 
me in an armor of steel and iron, give me a boat to push, a 
mill to drive, or a train to draw, with a skilful hand to hold 
my reins, and I will show what I can do !" 

But how long did steam go unquestioned ? For millions of 
years it played, in the foolishness of imbecility, before the 
dreamy eyes of men — never answering a question, because a 
question was never put to it. Ask the stars, " What can you 
tell us, or do ?" And they answer, " Study us, and we will tell 
you of the immeasurable magnitude of God's own glorious tem- 
ple ! Ask us truly, and we will tell you of gravitation, and the 
laws of tides, of light and heat, of the seasons, of prosperity, of 
summer and winter, and seed-time and harvest ; all of which 
you may write down in your almanacs, and sell them to the 
poor in purse and in spirit, who can find neither time nor com- 
prehension to study at our school." 

What I desire is, to impress you with the law of questions, 
so that evermore you will treat everything as if it could curse 
or bless, in accordance with the use made of it. 'Tis said, 
" The commonest mind is full of thoughts, some worthy of the 
rarest ; and could it see them fairly writ, would wonder at its 
wealth." Yon tree says nothing, unless questioned. It im- 
parts its best truths when best interrogated. To the dog it is 
only an object which, in running across the garden, he must 
avoid. To the intelligent botanist it tells great chapters of 
secrets. To the untutored Indian, it is good, or " no good," 
according to the fruit it bears. To the poet, it prophesies of 
beauty and truth. It is to him a beguiling bower of deep feel- 
ing, like a pure woman's heart ; the type of joys to come, and 
the harbinger of sorrows too deep for words. 

I may say that it is the main purpose of existence to tempt 
forth, by pure and appropriate questions, the great thoughts that 
lie buried in the mental essence. Every system of education, not 
based on this principle, is irksome to youth, because it is essen- 
tially erroneous and fundamentally unadapted. A child is 
never ready for knowledge till its soul is moved to put ques- 



12 THE PHILOSOPHY OF 

tions ; then comes the period to try the teacher, for only he is 
fit to teach who answers like a child, and can put fresh ques- 
tions to tempt forth the child's intuition and expand its native 
endowments. 

It is impossible to teach all children by the same methods. 
Souls are blessings, or not, as we conform our methods to the 
temperaments in which we find them. The multiplication table 
delights your son ; but your daughter is made to fancy a mental 
oath, when it comes her turn to learn it. But the right ques- 
tions open her soul to itself. What a charmed world it is! 
In a moment, her soul leaps over whole years of being; her 
eyes are opened, and she feels wise as the fabled Eve. Nor is 
this self-knowledge an evil. It will tell us where we are naked 
— destitute of wisdom and harmony — and inform us of the 
methods of life, which bring the soul's true Eden. 

Among the Jews it was a custom, derived from Egyptian 
jurisprudence, that every child should be taught the Jewish 
history and laws. In conformity with this method, the son of 
Joseph and Mary was taken to the temple of law, physic, and 
divinity. It is said that he was then only twelve years of age. 
He went to have his name enrolled among the males of the 
nation. It was also the custom in those days that the lawyers, 
ministers of justice, Sunday school teachers, and doctors of 
divinity should ask the young boys certain historical, legal, 
and religious questions in order to make sure of patriotism and 
orthodoxy. 

Joshua* seemed to satisfy all the professors save the " doctors 
of divinity" who were astonished and confounded by the pro- 
fundity of his answers ! He manifested the dialect of intuition 
— a fact, as much owing to the effect of being questioned as to 
the hidden excellence which sustained the responses. Yea, it is 
said that the catechumen and doctors were astonished at the 
answers which they elicited from Joshua ! And modern teachers 
think that only a God-sent and a God-inspired being could do 
it. One can not but regret the omission, on the part of histo- 
rians, of questions put and replies received. Because, if doctors 
of divinity in the days of Joshua were no better enlightened 

* Jesus is the Greek for the Hebrew word "Joshua." 



QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS. 13 

concerning spiritual principles than the same class of our 
century, we can not but conclude that the "doctors" were 
greatly astonished a long time before the "profound" was 
reached. 

I think they must have been astounded, and, perhaps, in- 
structed, by the courageous announcement of his reformatory 
disposition and spiritual mission ; not less by his utterance of 
inbred wisdom and intuitive knowledge, entirely natural to his 
organization, but far in advance of boys of his age and limited 
education. In the meantime let us not forget, that it was all 
elicited by the putting of appropriate questions. 

Questions do not always imply a moving of the lips, and a 
sound upon the ear. Every man is a mark of interrogation ! 
His existence summons thought. 

In the Harmonia you will find this motto — " Spontaneous and 
profound questions are living representatives of internal desires ; 
but to obtain and enjoy those pure and beautiful responses, 
which are intrinsically elevating and eternal, the inquirer must 
consult, not superficial and popular authorities, but the ever- 
lasting and unchangeable teachings of Nature, Reason, and 
Intuition." When I first wrote this, I did not comprehend it. 
But I now see that every part of a human being is a question. 
It asks, "Whence?" "What?" "Whither?" "What our 
origin?" "What are we?" " What destination ?" The bibles 
and churches are yet monopolizing these questions, and patenting 
the answers. But we are not to consult superficial authority ; 
we must find the answers in the sphere where the questions 
originated. And yet we can not work for ourselves, except by 
proxy. No man can answer himself, though he can satisfy his 
brother. On this principle, "shoemaker's wives and black- 
smith's horses go unshod." Physicians, when sick, need physi- 
cians. It will not always be thus. Men will be more self- 
containing when better cultivated ; or, when they know how to 
use things and ideas, without the discount of diminutions and 
exaggerations — : wherein we find error, so called, and the su- 
perficialities of our pilgrimage. 

If you will read the circumstance of the world-renowned 



14 THE PHILOSOPHY OF 

" Sermon on the Mount," you will observe that the preacher 
"opened his mouth, and taught," as if he was answering ques- 
tions. The multitude followed him. They were asking for his 
replies to thoughts in themselves. Each man was a question; 
an organic interrogatory ! Had they been so many sheep or 
cows, do you suppose that his soul would have felt questioned. 
His best words are responses to questions put to him. 

The most important question, in all the record, was put by 
Pilate. After interrogating Jesus on the subject of his king- 
ship, &c, Pilate asked — "What is Truth?" The account 
stated, that, "when he had said this, he went out." There- 
fore, it has ever since remained an open question ! We must 
regret, for the sake of mankind, that Pilate did not procure a 
reply. What a vast world of dogmatism it would have pre- 
vented! Catholic and protestant priests have patent replies, 
fixed as words of Fate. What a mass of theological conjecture 
rests upon this omission on the part of Pilate ! And besides, 
the world is left in skepticism as to the kind of truth the Puler 
referred to: legal? historical? geological? or theological? 
Since the question was not answered by Jesus, every soul 
should then consider itself questioned, and reply as best it can. 

Great mountains of gold are far less valuable to mankind, 
than the discovery, that the power to put a question presup- 
poses and guarantees the power no less to answer it. I affirm 
that Pilate possessed the- power to answer his own interroga- 
tory. But, as it is a law of Nature that the acorn shall precede 
the oak, even so, and by virtue of the same law, do questions 
oft-times long precede their answers. If a soul can summon 
no power to satisfy its questionings to-day, or during this 
generation, nor yet in the next hundred years, the time will 
none the less surely come when it may do so with ease — and 
not only so, but realize an ability to ask for greater knowledge 
and higher wisdom; to find which, the mind will consume the 
hours of eternity as they roll round the wheel, and continue 
thus its happy progression toward the unattainable Infinite. 

" What is Truth ?" asked Pilate. Now it depends entirely 
on his meaning as to whether he could himself answer in one 
hour, in one year, in five years, or in a million ! If he meant 



QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS. 15 

all Truth — scientific, philosophical, theological, and spiritual 
— he then, through the centrality of his own individual con- 
sciousness, presented his question to the Infinite, and will be 
able to reply, item by item, stratum by stratum, as he ascends 
the unfolding spheres of the illimitable Future. 

Because, if he meant all truth, he then had asked an eternal 
question ; and the answer, through his own soul, could come in 
a period no less interminable. And yet, as, from his unde- 
veloped state, he could not have meant all truth, (for only a 
God could intelligently put a question so profound,) therefore, 
I affirm that he will find many answers — each of which, at the 
time, may seem to his soul to be the ultimatum of satisfaction 
— at which he will rest a brief period, enjoying the answers; 
but presently the ability comes to put questions yet more pro- 
found, in other directions of being ; and thus it is, by a method 
of spontaneous inward propulsion, his soul, ever unfolding in the 
grace of life, progresses through interminable series of degrees 
of Wisdom and Knowledge ! 

For myself I say that the reverence of my soul is deeply af- 
fected by questions put to Jesus — for I doubt whether any- 
thing else could have so impressively tempted forth the rich 
excess of spiritual beauty which characterized his responses. 
Plato felt questioned by all mankind. And so he answers, 
"All things are for the sake of the good; and the good is the 
cause of everything beautiful." And the world, in some cul- 
tured parts, felt so charmed with the Greek's Wisdom, it 
returned a compliment — ".If Jove should descend to the earth, 
he would speak in the style of Plato." 

Plato felt the world's needs, felt its questions, and gave his 
life to render the service thus demanded of his opulent nature. 
It hath been said, "he kindled a fire so truly in the centre of 
life, that we see the sphere illuminated, and can distinguish 
poles, equator, and lines of latitude, every arc and node; a 
theory so averaged, so modulated, that you would say, the 
winds had swept through this rhythmic-structure, and not that 
it was the brief extempore blotting of one short-lived scribe." 
The purity and truth of an answer depends upon the quality 
of the question. " A soft answer turneth away wrath" it is 



16 THE PHILOSOPHY OF 

true ; but a soft reply can be made only by souls who feel their 
charity questioned. 

Each man is capable of rendering high service to humanity ; 
but whether humanity gets it from him, or the reverse, will 
ever remain for the world to decide. Man is able to work. 
But he must be made to see the occupation which is good for 
all; or being born for action of some sort, he will perform the 
inharmonious part. Enslave a man, and, by virtue of his deg- 
radation, he will in return enslave you. Do injustice, and 
you will suiter it; for questions and answers, like cause and 
effect, essentially correspond. 

Now here am I, acting faithfully in accordance with my per- 
sonalities and its boundaries. If you know how to use me, as 
my nature prescribes, I shall then yield you a permanent 
benefit. But, if in your ignorance of yourself (and, therefore, 
of me), you do not put me to the best service, you will soon 
feel the penalty. This penalty, nevertheless, is a benefit, though 
of a negative character. It will not teach you a truth, but of 
an error committed; and teach the method of escape. The 
tree is true to itself; and I to myself. If I know enough of 
myself to put the best questions to that tree, it will yield me 
the best lessons of benefit — lessons, which the woodman does 
not get, nor the bird that sings upon its boughs, neither the 
squirrel that feeds upon its fruit. Yet there remains to the 
woodman, to the bird, and to the squirrel, other benefits in the 
tree — to obtain which I have neither the disposition nor the 
power. Thus, the same tree, when tempted forth, will serve 
and benefit a hundred individualities, a hundred forms of 
matter ; the earth, the water, the atmosphere, bird, quadruped, 
and mankind. Its power to do this, however, lies not so much 
in itself as in its interrogators. 

" I will go into the desert and dwell among ruins," said 
Volney; "and will interrogate ancient monuments on the wis- 
dom of past times." He asked the past for its history of evil 
in the world ; and it answered him. 

If you perceive not my meaning — because of the new dress 
my thoughts may have assumed — you will nevertheless get 
something. What I mean to mean you may not see, but you 



QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS. 17 

are very likely to see what I do not ; and you might impart to 
me, in the next hour, that which I have now no power to 
communicate. The pathway to one Truth, perhaps, I can 
now show you. But, while on this path myself, in the ser- 
vice of pointing out the road to you, I may suddenly learn 
a new truth, admonishing that this is not the road for me to 
travel. Or, I may behold additional reasons why I should not 
fail to pursue it, and reasons, also, why you should not. I 
define, to your minds, my position. But if you can not see 
my reasons, nor the legitimacy of my position, in you lie the 
power and the liberty to go on without me. And as the new 
path breaks upon you, and you fail not to best employ all you 
have and meet, even so may you obtain bread from what, in 
the distance, appeared to me to be stones ; and health, also, 
from what I called poison and disease. The cicuta-plant 
yields honey to the bee, who instinctively knows how to ques- 
tion it ; to man it would yield bitterness and death. The bee 
questions the flower, and man the bee ; which answers through 
geometrical avenues — bleeding forth at every pore the life- 
elements of sweetness. 

Let each, therefore, be himself; but if he would help his 
condition, he must use his neighbor well ; for, at most, we can 
help ourselves only by proxy. The web of life is to be spun. 
And man, like the spider and silk-worm, must work from 
within ! The benefits of Individualism, so manifold, so com- 
plicate, escape the consciousness of those who depend, too 
constantly, upon externals for sympathy and support. That 
we are benefited by everything, without and within, in pro- 
portion to the justice with which we treat it, is not yet prac- 
tically recognised on earth. I say, justice ; because it is 
superior to all the humanities — to sympathy, benevolence, 
philanthropy; for Justice comprehends all — and is, therefore, 
the highest manifestation of true Religion ! 

Yon aged oak — solitary, stalwart, and grand — has not 
yet declared itself to the world ; because, simply, the world 
has not known how to question it. Opulent with great 
quantities and qualities of matter — self-defended against 
storm and tempest by its own strength and armor — it stands a 

2 



18 THE PHILOSOPHY OF 

stranger yet to man. It is a stranger to itself not less ! Who 
knows what else it can do, beside making ships, sideboards, or 
kindling the cottager's fire ! It remains yet to be questioned. 
Where is the man, who knows enough of himself, to do it ? 

What there is hidden in the recesses of my being, I have no 
power as yet to divulge. I yearn for the right man to come, 
from any degree of life, to put to my soul the right questions. 
For then I shall answer him with thought and articulation, at 
once so profound and beautiful, so truthful and elevating, I 
know not when I could recover from self-astonishment. But 
in all this arcanum of " questions and answers," there are 
truths in man which only a woman can elicit ; and powers in 
woman that come forth only at the mandate of masculinity. 

Innumerable are the persons from whom ascends the mourn- 
ful cry — "Alas ! not one can understand me — by no congenial 
spirit am I comprehended!" This insupportable agony, this 
ungratified desire for appreciation, in sensitive and cultured 
natures, attains unto speech. They spend precious moments 
in inward acts of self-commiseration. They weep when 
relief is nigh ; but, sometimes, the feeling becomes too deep 
for tears ; then silence, like the drapery of night, throws its 
mantle over, and folds in, the soul — saying, " Peace, be still." 
They sing the saddest songs. They write poetry, pervaded 
with an indefinite grief. But persevering in expression, they 
gain at last a result, of all ends the most important, but 
which the mind, in its ignorance of nature and adaptations, 
knew not how or where to seek. For thus it is that the 
sorrows of the "Five Points" have arisen into literature. The 
degradations of imbruted men, and the execrations of aban- 
doned women, have been translated into the English language. 
And the plaintive cry of " Hot Corn " is heard in fashionable 
parlors — uttered by pet-lambs in magnificent folds, whose shep- 
herds are Wall-street bankers, perhaps, and South-street commer- 
cialists. Thus the heretofore unappreciated see the pathway 
leading at last to justice and satisfaction — obtaining a lite- 
rary notoriety which promises popularity in the fullness of days. 

Self-comprehension, however, though always to be aimed 
after, will ever remain above the capacity of the comprehend- 



QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS. 19 

ing faculty. Even so, Reason can not tell what Reason is ; 
but what it is not, that it can easily decide. What men call 
Conscience — the summary conclusion of all the functions of 
Mind — I term Justice. But what justice is, no man's mind 
can determine ; but an injustice, this the faculty quickly 
decides. " What God is," says a German thinker, " I know 
not ; but what he is not, that I know." For ever will this fact 
in man's nature — this power of positives to determine only 
negatives — keep his sod folded in more or less of mystery. 
Man is the Indefinite world ; because subsisting between 
things and ideas, between the finite and the infinite. 

Many philosophers, becoming wearied with the ever-recur- 
ring contradictions and paradoxes of human nature — acting 
foolishly when wisdom was appropriate, manifesting insuffer- 
able weakness when strength was demanded — have allowed 
themselves to grow cynical and sarcastic. The human world 
disgusts them ; and so, like Diogenes, they spend their days in 
petulant misanthropy. Mr. Emerson says — " I knew a philos- 
opher, who was accustomed to sum up his experience of human 
nature, in saying — ' Mankind is a damned rascal.' " Perhaps, 
it was a gush of this impatience of human paradoxes which 
caused the Nazarene to whip the " money-changers ;" not less 
to denounce many as " serpents" and " vipers" worthy only of 
Gehennal damnation. 

Man is ever the indefinite — but he must be questioned. No 
sooner do we suppose ourselves fully analyzed and finally 
classified by some new phrenology or anthropology, than we 
suddenly break out in a fresh spot — provoking ourselves and 
our dogmatizers equally — with new mental exhibitions; with 
new characteristics, for which no science, no religion, no bible, 
has provided laws and adequate explanations. And so, in 
spite of all arbitrary restrictions and canonical injunctions 
against self-reliance, we are peremptorily thrown back upon 
our own centre — to begin another series of questions and 
answers toward self-comprehension. Of course, one may say, 
the history of man remains the same, in substance, from age to 
age : that no new law is developed from him ; but there is, I 
think, one thing in which mankind continue homogeneous — 



20 THE PHILOSOPHY OF 

viz. : in the immutability of their changeability. It is this law 
of Unity, in Variety, which we yearn to understand. 

But the great end to gain is, the converting of everything 
into a benefit. On yonder mountain's side, you behold the 
joyous brook leaping down to nestle in the lap of the valley 
— like a fleet, happy child, hastening to play with the grasses 
and flowers on the plains beneath! Was it made for play 
only ? Can it do nothing more ? Yea. The thirsting cattle 
may drink great draughts of strength from its rippling bosom ; 
and the meadow-lark, seeing itself reflected, may sing all the 
sweeter to the children of men. And is that all ? Can no one 
bring out of it a still greater service ? Yerily, it can accom- 
modate man deeply, if man knows how to help it to bestow 
accommodation. The mill can be driven by that stream ; it 
can work and play at the same moment ; suffering no impov- 
erishment thereby. But it knows not its own power ; it waits 
for interrogation. 

The Blackstone river, beginning in Massachusetts and flow- 
ing through a portion of Rhode Island, hastened along, bab- 
bling and silent by turns, for thousands of centuries. How 
long it flowed in solitude ! But the red man's canoe rode on 
its surface ; yet the aborigine knew not the river. At last, 
the white man came, who knew how to put the idle tide to 
service. He built an obstruction across its course. As the 
human mind stops at an interrogation, so did this strong dam 
arrest the waters. As a sequence, the tide set back, spreading 
over adjacent margins ; and then, with the power of accumu- 
lated weight, ran vigorously through the new channel made 
for it, against an intercepting wheel, which, turning steadily 
upon its axis, imparted motion to the mechanism of a Cotton 
Mill. Did that river know before its power to bless ? Could 
it set itself to the work ? What it was, it knew not. Its 
power was concealed from itself, and rolled and flowed indo- 
lently. But now, this playful, musical, beautiful stream sup- 
ports no less than one hundred and thirty great cotton, 
woollen, and other factories ! It gives drink to the thirsty 
cattle no less ; it waters the meadows no less ; it talks and 
dashes along as light and free as it did centuries ago ; is as 



QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS. 21 

beautiful to the eye as when but " sweet sixteen ;" gambols as 
cheerfully over rocky terraces ; leaps as fearlessly from height 
to depth as ever it did ; and yet, because it has been appro- 
priately questioned, it turns something like two million spools 
and spindles between Worcester and Providence — comprising 
about fifty miles only of its original play-ground.* While in 
idleness, it had no intelligent admirers ; for such, by nature's 
law, is the fate of all drones. But now, it is the chief delight 
of hundreds of working men and working women, who, though 
they may not stop the haste of labor to gratefully remember 
the service by the river rendered, yet derive their sustenance 
from year to year, by waiting obediently upon wheels and spin- 
dles which buzz and whirl at the gentle, but imperious, pres- 
sure of its ever-flowing tides. 

Does it suffer loss ? Does the sun lose light by painting da- 
guerreotypes ? Does the soul lose life by thinking ? 

Nay ! The stream flows on and widens into the greater 
river, bearing up ships and steamers, and still onward to 
the ocean. Thence it ascends in vapor, forms numberless 
fleecy clouds, fills the artist's soul with love and lessons, 
and, in the fresh forms of beauty, returns, perhaps, to its ori- 
ginal source. It may thus live over and over again its useful 
and beautiful life. And so, it works in its waywardness — and 
plays with powers it knew not — bright as the birthday of 
flowers, threading its way through the feathered grasses and 
along vernal, verdant plains ; boisterous in places as the Dela- 
ware ; in spots as beautiful as the Hudson ; and almost more 
industrious than the famous Merrimack ! 

So, too, is man idle — till the world interrogates his nature. 
By putting the right questions at the right time, and in the 
right manner, a human mind may be measurably revealed to 
itself. In this art lie all true methods of education. 

" Know thyself," said Pope, " presume not God to scan." 
There is rich wisdom in such counsel. Because, to be intelli- 

* " So great have been the improvements effected in spinning-machinery, that 
one man can attend to 1,088 spindles, each spinning three hanks, or 3,264 hanks 
per day ; so that, as compared with the operations of the most expert spinner in 
Hindustan, the American operator can perform the work of 300 men." 



22 THE PHILOSOPHY OF 

gently introduced to one's own soul is to go reverently into 
the presence of all the God the soul can ever realize. Than 
this there is no deeper, no wider, no higher revelation. But the 
soul can not question itself! Man must put his questions to 
Nature ; he must be free to do this ; and free, not less, to an- 
swer questions which Nature puts to him. No trammeled and 
bigoted sectarian, heathen or Christian, can be free to do either ; 
and so such offend the law and take the penalty of injustice ; 
causing meanwhile world-wide suffering through the ties of in- 
separable sympathies. 

All past catechisms contain questions put by the world, while 
yet in its teens, and may therefore be pardoned by this ma- 
turer era. 

But what questions now appear ? Who shall ask ? Who 
shall answer ? We must have no more dogmatism ! Come, 
then, ye children of experience, let us hear your words : speak! 
and the world will accept all the truth ye can give. Let the 
right voice sound, and lo ! like the musical throbbings of the 
peacefully rolling sea, our spiritual enjoyments will swell — ex- 
tend and expand, waving and surging forward — till angels in 
higher worlds receive refreshment and grow more beautiful, 
even as we drink from wells which spring out of the dark and 
dreary earth. 

The law of questions and answers regulates the world. In 
all things we behold a law of association : what does it mean ? 
Insect, bird, and quadruped, progressively recreate each other 
— forming, in their conjunctions, a brotherhood : why do they 
exist ? What bible answers ? Where shall we go for wis- 
dom ? Sanguinary wars, separating souls from the bodies of 
men, scourging families and nations : why do they exist ? 
What and where is God ? What are his laws ? Are we im- 
mortal ? If so, what for ? If not, why not ? Who shall an 
swer ? 

" Eureka I" Man must both desire and learn to answer 
every question he finds the poiver to ask! Herein lies the 
cause of all progressive development. 

Hunger asks man, "Do you know how to satisfy me?" and 
man tills the ground. Fatigue asks man, " Do you know the 



QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS. 23 

means of rest ?" and man invents beds and furniture. Love 
asks him a question : and he seeks companions. Wisdom 
asks : and man looks toward the Infinite. Science asks : and 
man studies the Finite. Philosophy asks : and man searches 
the Indefinite. Reason asks: and man seeks to familiarize 
himself with himself — to harmonize the other two worlds. 
Humanity asks : and Humanity, ever hopeful, ever promising, 
replies, " Be joyful, ye dwellers of earth, for there 

SHALL BE AN ERA OF UNIVERSAL PEACE AND UNITY !" 



THE 

ASSEMBLY'S SHORTER CATECHISM, 

REVISED AND CORRECTED. 



Every century that rolls over the earth adds another volume 
to the world's Library. Each page presents a kind of daguer- 
reotype impression of some event, accident, circumstance, or 
development. And each person is certain to write something ; 
the high and the low, alike, are authors. Every individual 
thing also — the tree, the bird, the flower, the animal, the fount- 
ain, the sun, the star — is a faithful contributor to the pages 
of this mystic cohesive Record. We transfer ourselves to the 
life of Posterity, physically and spiritually, as hillside stream- 
lets flow onward to create the Ocean. Hence, every person 
has an immortal influence ; even in this, the embryological 
sphere of human existence. On turning over and perusing the 
recently-written pages of this century — especially those con- 
tributed by the advancing portions of our race — I observe the 
frequent recurrence of important questions, physical, social, 
moral, scientific, spiritual. These questions conclusively prove 
that the earth's inhabitants experience dissatisfaction with the 
answers given by revered sources of instruction. Theological 
monopolies, if out of time, antagonize individual progress ; sci- 
entific discoveries should not outnumber advancements in the- 
ology and religion ; an opinion which, within five years, has 
acquired prodigious strength and unparalleled popularity. En- 



26 THE assembly's shorter catechism, 

couraged, therefore, by the kind reception which several great 
improvements in the Arts and Sciences have met with among 
able and fearless classes, and believing such minds will welcome 
theological improvements not less hospitably, I proceed to in- 
troduce a revised and corrected edition of the world renowned 
Assembly's Shorter Catechism ; and it is sincerely hoped that 
the alterations and emendations here presented, although simi- 
lar to the Westminster method of asking questions and giving 
answers, will not be adjudged uncharitably, nor pronounced by 
any theologico-monopolist to be an actionable infringement upon 
its predecessor. Beginning, then, with the best and most peace- 
ful understandings between the past and the present, I venture 
the presentation of responses, to Important Questions — in ac- 
cordance, of course, with my conception of teachings evolved 
by the Harmonial Philosophy. 



What is the chief end of man ? 

Man's chief end, in shortest speech, is endless progression ; 
to do good, be happy, get wisdom, and aspire calmly toward 
perfection ; to become harmonious even as his Father-God and 
Mother-Nature are harmonious. 

What rule have Father-God and Mother-Nature given to direct us how we may 
obtain these ends 1 

Our Heavenly Parents have given us a rule in the spiritual 
constitution of our being ; also, in the conformations of man's 
outer form ; and on a still broader scale, in the constitution 
and lyrical harmony of the surrounding Universe. 

What is this rule called 1 

By Sensualists — Pleasure; by Religionists — Scripture; by 
Harmonialists — Progression. 

Who are most correct ? 

Those who, regardless of outward authority, seek Progression. 

Why do you think them most correct ? 

Because sensualists or materialists aspire after Pleasure as 
an end; Religionists aspire after Truth , as it is in favorite creeds 
and formularies ; Harmonialists aspire after eternal life and 
endless improvement ; of which Pleasure and Truth are the in- 
cidental developments and ever-healing concomitants. 



EEVISED AND CORRECTED. 27 

How many persons are there in the Godhead 1 

There are in the Godhead and Godbody (that is to say, in 
the imperishable Mansions of Father-God and Mother-Nature) 
all the persons that were ever developed on any star in the fir- 
mament or on the earth beneath ; all men, all spirits, all an- 
gels, all archangels and seraphs, which people the immeasura- 
ble spheres of life and animation ; for we live and move and 
have our being in the Divine Existence, " whose body Nature 
is, and God the soul." 

What are the decrees of God 1 

The decrees of God are the eternal laws of his vital system ; 
written upon the constitution of Man ; and republished when- 
ever a Child is born. 

What are they called 1 

According to recent discoveries we term them Association, 
Progression, Development. 

Do these decrees — the laws of Association, Progression, and Development — 
apply to Individual Man ? 

Yes, but only in that stupendous application of ideas which 
recognises man as a microcosmical part of the Universal 

System. 

What, then, are those decrees of God which concern the immediate govern- 
ment and salvation of man ? 

All animated beings, especially mankind, are regulated by 
fixed laws — physical, organic, spiritual — the first determines 
the relation of the body to every other object, its temperature, 
its elasticity, density, &c. ; the second determines the relation 
of the organic or vital requirements of the body, and regulates 
the supply to the demand ; the third determines the relation 
of the soul in its friendships and sympathies for things both 
seen and unseen, temporal and eternal ; and, as implied by this 
admirable code of decrees, the happiness or misery of individ- 
ual man is proportionate always and everywhere, before as well 
as after death, to his obedience to, or transgression of, these di- 
vine mandates. 

How can we ascertain these laws 1 

By the employment of our intellectual and social and spir- 
itual faculties. Each law, and its positive requirements, can be 
perceived only by those parts or faculties or functions which 



28 the assembly's shorter catechism, 

it (the law) is designed to govern and harmonize with the sys- 
tem of creation without. 

What do you mean by this ? 

I mean that the body, by means of its sympathetic nerve, 
is itself qualified to perceive the relation subsisting between 
it and all other objects and bodies ; that the intellectual fac- 
ulties, by treasuring up such observations, create a science 
of gravitation, juxtaposition, <fcc. ; on this principle, of like 
seeing and comprehending like, the organic and vital func- 
tions perceive the chemistry of foods, fluids, odors, flavors, 
sounds, sights, colors, and the like ; the social and aff ac- 
tional principles apprehend the nature and valuation of friend- 
ship, childhood, conjugialism, and universal identification and 
unity of human interests and attractions ; and lastly, the 
spiritual faculties on the upper brain put forth their mar- 
vellous far-comprehending powers toward those stupendous, 
beautiful, vast, attractive, sublime, divine, celestial, and super- 
nal Realities which exist rudimentally on earth but fully 
bloomed and blossomed out in the higher Homes of the Soul. 
Human beings, therefore, may be physically happy and socially 
miserable, or visa versa, may enjoy the spiritual and suffer in 
the organal department of existence, according as they conform 
to or transgress the law which is designed to control and gov- 
ern such department. Thus, each part of man's nature hath 
its own immutable regulating principle, which is of necessity 
the source of beautiful benefits or of painful penalties, a cause 
of happiness or of misery, just as the possessor may by his life 
decide. 

How does God execute his decrees ? 

By living in accordance with the unchangeable principles of 
his own physical and mental being ; by universalizing his 
spirit, and making the humblest things examples of his love 
and wisdom. 

What is the work of creation ? 

There is no creation ; but formation perpetual. 

How did God create man ? 

God did not create man. Man came from Nature's matrix 
as a child from its mother's womb ; a Product of Nature ; and, 



REVISED AND CORRECTED. 29 

like a child, looks to her for all sustenance, entertainment, and 
instruction. 

What are God's works of providence ? 

All things in the universe ; nothing is especially designed ; 
everything comes forth in its natural order and discreet de- 
gree ; according to laws which are without variableness. 

Did our first parents continue in the state wherein they were created ? 

Our first parents, when they discovered that they were en- 
dowed with intellectual perceptions and physical necessities, 
began to bestir themselves in accordance with instincts of dis 
covery and self-preservation. They began to learn, to suffer, 
to subdue. Marriage and mechanism were found to be insep 
arable ; as with the little birds which are compelled to learn 
how to build nests for their young. On this principle, though 
upon an exceedingly low scale of existence, our first parents 
slowly advanced from a state of ignorance to comparative en- 
lightenment ; yet they were the veriest barbarians when com- 
pared with any portion of the Anglo-Saxon race. 

Did our first parents never fall from innocence ? 

They could not, because they never stood erect. They be- 
gan physically and mentally in the lowest part of the valley of 
human existence ; hence, as there was no " deeper depth," a 
fall was impossible. Yet they have stumbled often in ascend- 
ing the hill of progressive development. 

How can you prove this assertion 1 

By the blessed and even infallible scriptures. 

What scriptures do you refer to ? 

The scriptures which the true eternal God has written. The 
whole universe consists of sentient beings, each of whom is an 
express word of the Supreme Being. Nature is a book whose 
every sentence proves the ascension of man from a small point 
of life ; the first productions of Nature are inferior to her every 
subsequent unfolding. 

What is sin ? 

Sin is a name for excess ; a mark missed by man in his de- 
velopment ; a ditch, into which, when with ignorance or pas- 
sion blind, we stumble for a season. 

What is the sequence % 

We get pervaded, perhaps saturated, with its pollutions. 



30 THE ASSEMBLY'S SHORTER CATECHISM 



The deeper we plunge, the more polluted ; so exceedingly 
soiled at last, that we dread to find ourselves in daylight. We 
therefore (mentally) go into outer darkness ; shirking the sun 
and gaze of honest eyes, because of our debasement. 

Did all mankind fall in the first transgression ? 

Nature, through all her parts, is regulated by the same 
changeless principles. — one being the law of progressive im- 
provement ; hence, descending from the primal races by ordi- 
nary generation, posterity is benefited, not injured, by primitive 
misdirections ; for so great and powerful and just is the Divine 
Spirit, that all evil is overcome by good, and one of the origi- 
nal mistakes of our remotest ancestors has proved more valua- 
ble as a means of victorious achievement in righteousness than 
a million acts of passive rectitude or negative goodness. Be- 
cause such acts, like man's primitive misdirections, are not 
the result of voluntary affection or intelligent choice, based on 
adequate experience — but mistakes and acts, on the contrary, 
stumbled upon and kicked out of the sands of Progress, even as 
the precious diamond was thrown up into open day and prover- 
bial celebrity by the undesigning toe of a wandering savage — 
in which there exists neither merit nor demerit, but discovery 
nevertheless and benefits innumerable. 

Into what state did the fall bring all mankind 1 

What is theologically called a a fall" was in truth the great- 
est benefit to mankind ; it developed physical industry, beau- 
tified the soil, and improved the climate, exercised the in- 
tellectual faculties, evoked the sentiment of association, and 
awakened the spiritual affinities ; in short, according to this ori- 
ental myth, it drove the Aristocratic Family from velvet lawns, 
from paths luxuriously ornamented with flowery carpets, from 
the presence of ceaseless perfumery, from rustic chairs not the 
product of pleasurable invention and victorious toil, from natu- 
ral-tufted sofas 'neath the graceful arches of magnificent trees 
never planted or treated by human hands, from the lascivious 
pleasing of the lute-like song of paradisaical birds, from the 
flowing of rivers whose indolent powers had never pressed the 
ponderous wheel of a cotton-factory or the pioneer's saw and 
grist mill ; therefore, the fall was in fact the first step up that 



REVISED AND CORRECTED. 31 

hill which leads to manly enterprise and womanly independ- 
ence — the democratic road to useful Knowledge. 

Wherein consists the sinfulness of that state whercinto man entered ? 

The sinfulness of that original revolution in the habits and 
manners of the Adainic Aristocracy, consists in the fact that, 
according to the account, the act was not a result of pre-deter- 
mination, but of mere " idle curiosity" to taste, ad libitum, all 
fruit indigenous to that sunny soil ; in a word, the sin (or pity) 
consists in the procrastination, in the lack of industry and self- 
sustaining effort, which characterized the reputed first pair, and 
which they have transmitted to all labor-dishonoring portions 
of mankind. 

What is the misery of that state whereinto man entered ? 

The misery to idlers and aristocrats consists in the discovery 
that all true success and permament distinction depend upon 
sincere active individual Enterprise ; regulated by principles 
of justice, truth, love to man, reverence of Father-God, and 
temperance in all things — a misery familiar only to those who 
desire to live on " the labor of others," who desire riches and 
authority even at the expense of the Poor, who love Notoriety 
and Popularity devotionally, and not Truth for its own sake. 

Did God leave all mankind to perish in this state 1 

Blasphemous question ! How can an omnipresent and un- 
changeable God withdraw his spirit from man, whose every 
drop of soul-life is derived from the eternal Fountain ! 

Did God elect some to everlasting life, and others to endless destruction 1 

God is the Father of the spirits of All men. Hence all men 
have their entire existence in the one omnipresent Spirit of 
Deity. Think you that the Whole can be happy when many of 
its parts are miserable ? Human souls are detached individu- 
alized personifications of the Deific Nature and Essence ; and 
the imperfection or destruction of a single detachment would, 
like the loss of a wheel from a perfect watch, impair the goodness 
and derange the infinite precision of the Universal Mechanism. 

Who is the Redeemer of Man 1 

If by the word " redemption" you mean improvement in all 
things natural and spiritual, then man's redeemer is Wisdom 
— the beautiful Son of a holy nuptial blending of Love and 
Knowledge ; the soul's " Christ-principle" — a natural prophet, 



32 THE assembly's shorter catechism, 

a prince of peace, a spiritual priest, a God-inspired king of that 
kingdom which is within you. 

How can Wisdom, being the sum of human attributes, save man ? 

By opening the soul to a perception of things spiritual, an- 
gelic, celestial, and heavenly. Like a peach which treasures up 
the perfections of the entire tree which produced it, so Wisdom 
attracts together all the beauties of the affections of both Love 
and Knowledge (as explained in 4th vol. of Great Harmonia), 
and thus opens the soul's portals to Infinite Love, to Eternal 
Truth, to Father-God, to Mother-Nature. 

"What benefits do believers receive from Wisdom at their death ? 

Pure Wisdom, having opened to the soul a glorious con- 
sciousness of the existence of a better and less rudimental 
world Beyond, brings a great peace into the mind and sur- 
rounds the believer's bed with many spirits and angels. 

What benefits do believers receive from Wisdom at the resurrection 1 

At the resurrection, believers, being raised up immediately 
after the heart ceases to throb on earth, shall be acknowledged 
in the Spirit-Land by welcoming hosts of friends, and thus, un- 
like disbelievers, be made direct partakers of that full enjoy- 
ment which the harmonious only know. 

What is the duty which God requires of man ? 

The one true eternal Father-God requires of man faithfulness 
to the dictates of his highest attractions. (See questions on 
" Life.") To do right from a sense of duty, or obligation, or 
fear, as most people permit themselves to do, is far below that 
exalted motive which prompts noble natures to do good and 
speak the truth to gratify their attractions. 

What are man's highest attractions ? 

Man's best and highest attractions take their rise in the su- 
perior part of the brain called the wisdom-region ; that is, in 
the organs of benevolence, veneration, conscientiousness, firm- 
ness, self-respect, hope, sublimity, ideality, marvellousness, and 
love of Truth. 

What did God at first reveal to man for the rule of his obedience ? 

God, by living in man's soul from the very beginning, revealed 
to his religious or wisdom faculties this law — " to be carnally- 
minded is death ; to be spiritually-minded is life and peace." 



BE VISED AND CORRECTED. 33 

How did God reveal this law 1 

God revealed this law, first, in the common relations subsist- 
ing between man and man ; second, in the " still small voice" 
of integral perception of justice, called Intuition ; third, by 
the various spirits and angels who presided and still continue 
to watch lovingly over the earth, and who sometimes spoke in 
visions to young men, in dreams to women, and through com- 
mandments to religious chieftains. 

Where is the moral law summarily comprehended 1 

The moral law, which signifies the immutable principle of 
Justice everywhere manifested in the superlative Constitution 
of Father-God and Mother-Nature, is summed up and most 
beautifully expressed in the body and soul of Man. 

Where is the moral law truly visible ? 

The moral law is fully and practically exhibited and fulfilled 
wherever a human being has attained entire Harmony — to the 
fullness of the stature of a perfect Man in Love and wisdom — 
by obedience to his own divinely-originated and supernally-au- 
thenticated twelve commandments 

What is the sum of the twelve commandments ? 

The sum of the twelve commandments is, to do good and 
harmonious works, for the redemption and ennoblement of 
your fellow-men. Such works to be purely " good" must be 
wrought regardless of age, sex, complexion, belief, or reputa- 
tion; because the Human Race is but One Family — all mem- 
bers of one body — in which there is neither Jew nor Gentile, 
Nazarene nor Greek, Ethiopian nor Anglo-Saxon 

What is the preface to the twelve commandments ? 

The preface to the twelve commandments is in these words : 
" Write me as one who loves his fellow-men." 

What does the preface to the twelve commandments teach us ? 

The preface to the twelve commandments teacheth us, that 
because man did not originate himself, but came into existence 
involuntarily as the Child of Father-God and Mother-Nature, 
therefore to love and improve and render happy the pathway 
of human beings is the best and highest and most acceptable 
homage the soul can pay to the " Great First Cause," which 
was before all things and in which all things exist. 

3 



84 THE assembly's shorter catechism, 

What is the first commandment'? 

The first commandment is : " Obey the normal requirements 
of Self-Love ;" which is the Central principle of man's exist- 
ence. 

What is required in the first commandment ? 

The first commandment requireth us to know and acknowl- 
edge the wisdom of Father-God by perceiving this law of Self- 
Love to be the foundation of all individual rights and liberties. 

What is forbidden in the first commandment ? 

The first commandment forbiddeth both the extreme and the 
inverted practice of this central Affection ; the penalty of diso- 
bedience being both immediate and remote, and, while persisted 
in, never detached from the transgressor. 

What is extreme and inverted practice ? 

Extreme Self-Love goes time-serving, fortune-hunting — full 
of baseness, being at once egotistical, illiberal, mercenary ; 
while inverted, it produces opposite effects — not nobleness and 
magnanimity, but self-abnegation, lukewarm carelessness, and 
personal filthiness, as explained in the Great Harmonia. 

What is the second commandment 1 

The second commandment is : " Obey the law of Conjugal 
Love with all thy heart and with all thy mind ;" for out of the 
operations of this principle springeth the myriad generations 
of men, spirits, and angels. 

What is required in the second commandment 1 

The second commandment requireth the receiving and the 
keeping of all pure and spiritualizing conceptions of the true 
marriage relation ; the central conception being, that Man and 
Woman are the twofold manifestation of One existence, each 
acting in the other as a Messiah throughout eternal worlds. 

What is forbidden in the second commandment ? 

The second commandment forbiddeth the prostitutions of 
Extremism and the pollutions of Inversionism ; also the telling 
of all anecdotes, and the reading of unclean books, which tend 
to breed unchaste emotions in the soul. 

What are the causes of conjugal misfortune ? 

The causes are, first, ignorance of the use and holiness of 
marriage ; second, a lack of spiritual culture among those who, 



REVISED AND CORRECTED. 35 

in other respects, are intelligent and exemplary persons ; third, 
a transitional fact incident to the slow growth of the ages. 

What is the third commandment 1 

The third commandment is : " Obey the law of Parental 
Love with a pure and reverent devotion ;" for the foundation 
of the world is Childhood ; and the happiness of future spheres 
bubbles out of terrestrial fountains. 

What is required in the third commandment ? 

The third commandment requireth that parents should re- 
spect the rights of the babe before birth by abstaining from all 
blood-love indulgence ; also, after its introduction to objective 
life, that parents and guardians open many liberties to off- 
spring, and teach the awakening faculties quietly and only as 
they ask questions ; until the season has arrived when physical- 
industry and mental discipline become both natural and neces- 
sary ; then the Harmonial Institution should go on with the re- 
quisite process of harmonizing the body and mind of the young. 

What is forbidden in the third commandment'? 

The third commandment forbicldeth all inharmonious exam- 
ples by parents in the presence of the young : such as intem- 
perance, the use of tobacco, the excessive use of meat, the 
habitual drinking of tea or coffee, vulgar habits, profane words, 
lack of punctuality in promises, deceptive or evasive answers, 
expressions of prejudices against neighbors, reiteration of slan- 
ders, opposition to persons who differ on religious questions ; 
also every species of irreverence which could generate laxity 
of moral principle or blindness to the Divine Existence. 

What is the fourth commandment'? 

The fourth commandment is : " Obey the law of Fraternal 
Love with all thy soul and with all thy understanding ;" for 
this is that principle which binds man to man in the vast broth- 
erhood of races and nations. 

What is required in the fourth commandment 1 

The fourth commandment requireth the exercise of that en- 
nobling sentiment of fraternal " charity, which thinketh no 
evil ;" as in thine own household so also in the habitations of 
thy neighbor ; because, to the truly gifted in Wisdom, there is 
nothing unclean nor unrighteous absolutely, except in the sense 



36 THE assembly's shorter catechism, 

of mis-adaptation or substitution of laws and conditions ; such, 
for example, as a man adapting himself to habits of body which 
are just only to some animal, or substituting for the government 
of civilized races despotic and warful laws which belong in 
justice only to savage and barbaric generations. 

What is forbidden in the fourth commandment 1 

The fourth commandment forbiddeth all transgressions of 
the principle of Fraternal Love. Therefore, all theological 
distinctions are forbidden. 

What examples can be given of mischievous theological distinctions 1 

There are many such examples in ecclesiastical history ; 
and yet more in the blood-stained history of bewildered hu- 
manity. The Old Testament recognises Masters and Slaves. 
Kings arid Subjects are presented in bold distinction. I hear 
insulting and unfraternal words concerning plebeians and pa- 
tricians. I hear merciless sermons concerning the good and 
the evil, the sheep and the goats, the elect and the reproba- 
ted, still resounding from pulpits as cardinal portions of the 
gospel. The genius of this doctrine is utterly opposed to the 
fraternal welfare and peaceful progress of mankind. The fra- 
ternal interests of the world are divided by it ; every man 
against his neighbor. The unity of history is marred by its 
promulgation. It retards the growth of the universal senti- 
ment — "Ye are all brethren." All human history must be 
regarded as the growth of a Tree — first, the little germ; 
then, its subsoil expansion ; then, the going forth of diverse 
roots from the germinal point ; then, the ascension of a tufted 
column from the centre ; then, the appearance of thorns on this 
body, and sometimes unsightly excrescences ; then, the repro- 
duction of the underground roots, with all their beautiful ec- 
centricities, in the form of overground branches ; then, an infi- 
nite reduplication of these in the shape of twigs starting out 
of branches ; and lastly, buds of promise break forth on each 
extremity — prophesying and proclaiming the approach of blos- 
soms, and from blossoms, Fruit. So should the history of 
mankind be studied ; no complaint of evil, no pulpit scolding, 
no canonical profanity. One time the Race brings forth only 
thorns, at other times dry limbs without beauty, then beauty 



EE VISED AND CORRECTED. 37 

without energy, but all in proper season ; and, in due course of 
this progression, the whole is begemmed with an infinite frui- 
tion — all pure, all noble, all Harmontal ! 

What is the fifth commandment ? 

The fifth commandment is : " Obey the law of Filial Love 
with all the spontaneousness of thy grateful spirit ;" for it is 
this beautiful principle which links inferior to superior, ani- 
mals to the human world, and mankind to the interior and 
spiritual. 

What is required by the fifth commandment ? 

The fifth commandment requireth the honoring of " thy fa- 
ther and thy mother" because they were instrumental in giving 
you an eternal individualized existence ! Gratitude is next to 
generosity. But this Filial law does not require a child to 
obey a foolish or intemperate parent ; nor slaves to yield them- 
selves blindly to the dictum of self-constituted masters, who ap- 
propriate rights and assign only duties to those who serve 
them; for no human being is obligated by any natural (or 
divine) law to sacrifice individual " rights" in order to per- 
form " duties" imposed by those arbitrarily vested with au- 
thority. 

What is forbidden in the fifth commandment ? 

The fifth commandment forbiddeth the neglecting of this 
Filial homage which is due to every person, idea, or truth, 
that giveth evidence of superiority and innate righteousness. 
All contemptuous treatment of a human being — all scorning of 
those who live in poverty ; all supercilious mannerisms toward 
those who labor in field, workshop, or kitchen ; all trampling 
upon the rights of others ; all mocking and jeering and hissing 
and hooting at that which (without due investigation) is pro- 
nounced prejudicial to morals and religion ; all irreverence and 
politico-sectarianism manifested toward the inhabitants of for- 
eign countries and principalities, either in thought or speech ; 
finally, and in short, all voluntary transgressions of this Filial 
Principle in reference to man on earth, to spirits in the heav- 
ens, to angels in the spheres, to seraphs in the constellations, 
or to Father-G-od in the nuptial embrace of Mother-Nature — 
is positively forbidden now and for ever. 



38 

"What results will follow obedience to the fifth commandment ? 

The results of obedience will flow like crystal waters through 
the garden of the soul. The effects are beautiful and saving 
like deathless flowers shedding immortal fragrance o'er the 
path of life — Gratitude, Generosity, Patience, Devotion, Mod- 
eration, Justice ! — these are the jewels which beautify the true 
child of Nature, having the power to bring long life and pros-' 
p*erity. 

What is the sixth commandment ? 

The sixth commandment is : " Obey the law of Universal 
Love with the total ingenuousness of thy inmost nature ;" for 
it is this uncircumscribed principle which circulates and throbs 
through all the veins and arteries of Humanity. 

What is required by the sixth commandment ? 

The sixth commandment requireth each individual to iden- 
tify his peace and prosperity and happiness with that of every 
other. Isolated being and unaided doing are not compatible 
with true humanity and permanent progression. Universal 
Love is founded in the vivifying essence of universal existence, 
and should regulate the highest and noblest impulses operating 
in the broad domain of Human Nature. 

What is forbidden in the sixth commandment 1 

The sixth commandment forbiddeth all selfishness and all 
isolated strife for wealth and power. Monopolistic enterprises 
and competitive industry are forbidden by virtue of this prin- 
ciple. By a philosophical analysis of the origin and nature 
of what are termed man's vices and passions, I discover that, 
with few exceptions, the worst and most discordant manifesta- 
tions of character, are engendered and fortified in the strong 
entrenchments of political, ecclesiastical, and social Institu- 
tions. 

How did these institutions originate ? 

These tyrannical arbitrary institutions (which despotize 
mankind and develop subversive effects) originated from man's 
ignorance, and not from man's depravity ; although ignorance 
gives rise to a multitude of ungovernable propensities which 
Wisdom alone can calm and beautify. It should be steadily 
remembered that Man (and the whole race also) is a progres- 



REVISED AND CORRECTED. 39 

sive Being. His life and deeds at different periods of the 
world, like hands on a dial, indicate the order and degree of 
his progression. And " regeneration" is a perpetual phenome- 
non of human existence. The elevation and expansion of man's 
affections into Universal Love, is the perfect fruition of the tree 
of Life; the result of no miraculous " change of heart," but of 
perennial growth in love and wisdom. When this commandment 
is obeyed, the various races will shake hands through mutual 
organizations of interests, and a stupendous harmonial tem- 
ple will overarch the world. 

What is the seventh commandment ? 

The seventh commandment is : " Obey the gospel of use" — 
for this is the first manifestation of the principle of Wisdom. 

What is required by the seventh commandment ? 

The seventh commandment rcquireth us to use all things 
which minister to the growth, ennoblement and happiness of 
our physical and mental being. There is not a blade of grass, 
nor a grain of sand, but may be set in accord with the key-note 
of man's needs. Subjective wisdom seeks objective existence ; 
giving the artist an intelligent impulse toward the appropria- 
tion of colors, and the beauty-lover a desire to embellish his 
habitation with picturesque results. The man of uses, whose 
mind is devoted thereto, is a man of effects and details ; the 
exact sciences and constructive arts are outworks of this law. 
When we render useful any element in nature — when we work 
to fill a useful position in the living world, when we convert a 
misfortune into a means of success, when we set in serviceable 
operation a physical or intellectual gift, when we triumph over 
a fault by compelling it to wield a good influence, when we 
stand god-like over the volcano of rash and uncontrollable 
affection and roll back the burning tide of consuming passion 
at the very moment when the fire and smoke of prostitution 
and profanation overshadow the citadel of inward purity — then 
do we obey the seventh commandment. 

What is forbidden in the seventh commandment 1 

The seventh commandment forbiddeth the desecration of 
any natural object by misapplication ; also the profanation of 
any function or faculty by misemployment. For example, using 



40 THE ASSEMBLY'S SHORTER CATECHISM, 

a cow or a horse, a woman or a man, to do work in harness 
which electro-magnetic forces and steam or caloric could do 
quicker and better ; employing the hand to strike a brother ; 
using the tongue to moisten tobacco or to give free expression 
to inelegant words ; using the lips to pray to God or to im- 
print the betrayer's kiss ; using memory as a trunk for that un- 
culled and wasteful rubbish which may accumulate in the jour- 
ney of life ; using the knowing faculties to outwit and overreach 
a neighbor ; employing the poetic impulses as angels of light 
to engulf a fellow-being in conjugal abandonment ; using the 
powers of clairvoyance for selfish ends and mercenary enter- 
prises ; all this, and infinitely more, is forbidden in the seventh 
commandment. 

What is the eighth commandment ? 

The eighth commandment is : " Obey the gospel of Justice" 
— which is the second manifestation of the principle of Wis- 
dom. 

"What is required in the eighth commandment 1 

The eighth commaudment requireth of us the "lawful pro- 
curing and furthering of the wealth and outward estate of our- 
selves and others ;" also requireth every one to seek to estab- 
lish an equilibrium of interest and duty, so that no one will be 
called to do that which is not in accord with the highest jus- 
tice. For example, the lawyer is mostly interested in human 
misunderstandings, the physician in human sicknesses, the cler- 
gyman in human subjection to outward institutional authority ; 
while, at the same time, the lawyer's duty is for peace on 
earth, the physician's for health on earth, and the clergyman's 
for individual harmony and self-legislative sovereignty. Hence 
our present social relations generate every species of injus- 
tice ; which, while perpetuated from necessity, is by all ac- 
knowledged to be unwelcome. 

"What is forbidden in the eighth commandment ? 

The eighth commandment forbiddeth whatsoever may in- 
fringe upon the rights and liberties of others. Earth ! thrice 
beautiful thou, and fit for the young spirit's early unfolding, 
♦ when men love justice and live it. Justice ! the highest form 
of true Religion, enriched with angel harmonies, with sleepless 



REVISED AND CORRECTED. 41 

universal penetrative eyes, looking straight into the soul of 
human motives, seeing the thought before the deed, the sub- 
stance through the shadow, rending the false and flimsy veil 
that men secretly hang between themselves and the world with- 
out ! Upon the now unconscious leaves of the eternal tree of 
Life within, this majestic principle writes down every thought, 
word, deed, of the undying spirit. 

What is the ninth commandment'? 

The ninth commandment is : " Obey the gospel of Power" 
— which is the third manifestation of the principle of Wisdom. 

What is required in the ninth commandment ? 

The ninth commandment requireth the energetic employment 
of both body and mind, for human good and happiness. What 
Socrates did in the market ; what Plato taught in his regal 
robes to metaphysical students ; what Aristotle witnessed of 
atom, world, time, space, eternity, infinity ; whatever else was 
seen or said or prophesied of by the succession of royal Think- 
ers — by the Lockes, Humes, Kants, Bacons, Newtons, Cuviers, 
Goethes, Spinosas, Fouriers, Humboldts, Parkers, Emersons — 
is possible to thee, yes, to thee, incredulous Eeader ! Even 
greater works than these shall ye do ! Human life is eternal ; 
and power, to accomplish the loftiest flight, is in thee hidden ; 
therefore, believe now and be saved. 

What is forbidden in the ninth commandment 1 

The ninth commandment forbiddeth physical idleness, men- 
tal debility, and disproportionate development of the heart and 
head ; also it condemneth continued over-exertion for the grat- 
ification and enrichment of aristocrats. 

What is the tenth commandment ? 

The tenth commandment is : " Obey the whisperings of the 
spirit of true Beauty" — which is the fourth manifestation of 
the principle of Wisdom. 

What is required in the tenth commandment 1 

The tenth commandment requireth us to harmonize our loves 
and mental desires throughout ; and thus create that Beauty, 
full of symmetry and regular conformation, which will prove a 
joy eternal. 



42 THE assembly's shortek catechism, 

What is Beauty ? 

Objective beauty is that which acts through the eye upon, 
and excites pleasure in, the spiritual temperament. (See 4th 
vol. of Great Harmonia.) We need not roam through vast do- 
mains of rich grandeur, nor fathom the deep mines of essences 
bodiless or abstractions metaphysical, to solve this simple ques- 
tion. True beauty is that, "without or within, which yields pleas- 
ure and awakens gratitude. 

What did the ancients say of Beauty 1 

It is said that Socrates called Beauty a short-lived tyranny ; 
Plato, a privilege of nature ; Theophrastus, a silent cheat ; 
Theocritus, a delightful prejudice ; Carneades, a solitary king- 
dom ; Doraitian said, that nothing was more grateful ; Aristotle, 
that Beauty was better than all the letters of recommendation 
in the world ; Homer, that it was a glorious gift of Nature ; 
Ovid calls it a favor bestowed by the gods ; Emerson, that 
Beauty is the mark God sets on virtue ; and a French proverb, 
that Beauty, unaccompanied by virtue, is as a flower without 
perfume. 

What definition can you give of Beauty 1 

I define Beauty to be the incarnation of three active princi- 
ples — Use, Justice, Power — the coronation of whatsoever is 
serviceable, harmonious, energetic. He who would be truly 
beautiful must not be deformed with ostentation. 

What is forbidden in the tenth commandment ? 

The tenth commandment forbiddeth all physical habits which 
might impair the most agreeable proportion of form or feature ; 
and much more, every mental disposition that could deface the 
richer Beauty with which Father-God hath adorned the inner 
life. "In deeds and in motives untold by the tongue — by 
chisel uncarved, by poets unsung — the Beautiful lives in the 
depths of the soul." 

What is particularly forbidden in this commandment 1 

The tenth commandment forbiddeth* all turbulency of spirit 
which in a few years wrinkles the beautiful brow ; also, all an- 
imality which destroys grace of bone, gives prominence to the 

* The reader will pardon this dictatorial word on the ground that it is employed 
in conformity to the Shorter Catechism, and not in any sectarian sense so repug- 
nant to the author. 



REVISED AND CORRECTED. 43 

joints, and dissipates the freshness of youth from the teeth, 
eyes, hair, and skin (see 4th vol. of Great Harmonia) ; all 
discontentment with conditions which are incidental to an em- 
bryo existence, " envying or grieving at the good of our neigh- 
bor, and all inordinate affections for anything that is his." 
Bat Nature allots to no man more than is sufficient for a sub- 
sistence and guaranty against the intrusions of Poverty, physi- 
cal and mental ; all else, though strictly lawful according to 
existing constructions of individual rights, is nothing le^.s than 
an appropriation of our neighbor's property and depriving a 
brother of the means of happiness. 

What are we to conclude from this ? 

We arc to conclude and resolve at once, that in this tenth 
commandment is forbidden all social or civil laws that infringe 
npon the Beauty of Universal Justice. Furthermore, all reli- 
gions which make a virtue of crucifying the organ of Ideality 
and the normal requirements of the spiritual temperament. 
Beautiful external objects — pictures, statuary, flowers, orna- 
ments ; beautiful external odors — delicate perfumes, violet, 
mignionette, geranium, cascarilla; beautiful external sounds 
— songs, musical instrumentation, words of love, bells of lib- 
erty, the rounding cadences of Wisdom's words ; beautiful ex- 
ternal tastes — all berries and fruit which grow in sunlight and 
please the tongue ; and thus, through all the vast, profound, 
and mystic simplicities of every day's sensuous existence, the 
tenth commandment forbiddeth every civil circumstance or re- 
ligious obligation which could mar the symmetrical develop- 
ment of that Inner Beauty, which, is mighty as Truth and 
essential to happiness as heaven itself. 

What is the eleventh commandment'? 

The eleventh commandment is : " Obey the gospel of Aspira- 
tion" — which is the fifth manifestation of the principle of 
Wisdom. 

What is required in the eleventh commandment ? 

The eleventh commandment require th us to acknowledge, in 
our daily walk and conversation, our grateful consciousness of 
whatsoever is interior and supernal — our relation thereto and 
dependence thereon — which is at once a source of imperishable 



44 THE assembly's shoeter catechism, 

pleasure and a cause of growth in rich domains of glorious 
meditation ; vaster far than fields of intellectual culture, deeper 
than oceans of theologic lore, sweeter than a thousand gardens 
of paradisaical flowers, diviner than the songs of the flowing 
Mornia, pure as the perfect Love. 

What is Aspiration ? 

Aspiration, as the word implies, is a spiritual reaching up- 
ward — a prayer for providential aid, a longing after things 
and truths superior — an attraction toward that which is in 
store for the soul. 

What is forbidden in the eleventh commandment 1 

The eleventh commandment forbiddeth all ingratitude ; all 
habits of negligence in the wisdom faculties. Also, all irrev- 
erence toward that which is truly useful, just, energetic, beau- 
tiful — not merely in the sight of the body and its senses, but 
toward whatsoever administereth lovingly and wisely to the 
highest faculties ; all abuse of that which thus lendeth wings 
to imagination, and expandeth the capabilities of the inmost 
understanding. 

What is the twelfth commandment ? 

The twelfth commandment is : " Obey the gospel of Har- 
mony" — which is the sixth manifestation of the Wisdom prin- 
ciple. 

What is required in the twelfth commandment ? 

The twelfth commandment, which is the sum of all Wisdom, 
requireth us to be and do that which will render our fellow- 
men the best service and the longest happiness. 

What is forbidden in the twelfth commandment? 

The twelfth commandment forbiddeth every system of gov- 
ernment and all religions, which retard mankind's progress 
toward Haemonial Unity. 

Is any man able perfectly to keep the commandments of God? 

No man alone and unbefriended, unsupported by the counsel 
and magnetism of personages superior, can keep all these com- 
mandments ; but a firm desire, a sincere aspiration, to do so, 
will bring to his aid the friendship of angels, and help to cen- 
terize his personal capabilities. 



REVISED AND CORRECTED. 45 

Is angelic aid the principal and most needful thing ? 

No ; the principal condition, favorable to individual prog- 
ress, is external harmony ; not only in bodily health, but in 
the several relations demanded by the several loves. A mar- 
ried woman, to be happy, aside from her own natural peace- 
fulness, requireth a good and intelligent companion. No par- 
lor is harmonious with discord in the kitchen. Spiritual 
righteousness and happiness are impossible while the outward 
conditions of man's social life antagonize. Oh, that church- 
men could see more of Time in their benevolent enterprises ! 
The affairs of eternal worlds can be more easily comprehended 
and controlled by their inhabitants. Man's works of salvation 
and redemption should be adapted to this world. 

What explanation can you give for the absence of social harmony among 
Christians ? 

It is of the utmost importance that we understand the true 
theory of reform; at the same time, also, the reason why the 
Church system does not succeed. The Church professes to be 
adequately armed to battle with sin, and provided with all the 
true instruments of social Reform. It professes to have the 
stupendous " Word" on its side — not only so, but the Almighty 
with it. In fact, all the persons of the God-head are claimed 
as both prime movers and co-laborers in the vast field of hu- 
man redemption. 

What result does this church association bring forward ? 

The whole supernatural system has been well nigh two 
thousand years converting fifty millions of Protestants into 
religious Sectarians. But these fifty millions are, after all, far 
from being reformed and harmonized. Many of them still own 
slaves, sustain the Fugitive Slave Law, and go strong against 
the dethronement of King Superstition. These church, mem- 
bers and church supporters make no better merchants ; as 
tradesmen they are not a particle more honest than an honest 
Doubter ; they make no kinder or wiser " Bosses" to journey- 
men and apprentices ; they are no better than, and ofttimes 
not so good as, the so-called skeptical and unregenerated 

How do you explain this fact ? 

It is because the whole church theory of Reform is unnatu- 



46 THE assembly's shorter catechism, 

ral ; it is logical from a mythological foundation ; and over- 
looks time in its aims for eternity. All Christians candidly 
confess that it is very unnatural to man's natural heart to be a 
bible Christian. Hence a foreign or supernatural aid is invoked. 
At length they suppose they obtain such aid, then they become 
"Christians" — that is to say, they become unnatural — but, 
perhaps, not a particle more pure, more honest, more humane. 
It would be a curious circumstance, should the affidavits of one 
hundred apprentices be taken, fifty with church members as 
bosses, and fifty whose masters make no profession of faith 
in any form of sectarian religion. The question is : " Which 
class is the most cheerful, kind, honest, humane ?" I am fully 
satisfied that we should get the most favorable report from 
the so-called unregenerated. It is, alas ! too well known, by 
many a poor boy and orphan-girl, how insupportably severe is 
the domestic discipline of church Deacons and praying Lay- 
men. They make the most tyrannical masters ; the most in- 
vincible slaveholders ; the most cruel parents ; the most igno- 
rant foes to science ; the stoutest friends of bigotry ; and the 
abettors of narrow-mindedness. 

Why does the Christian church fail ? 

The church fails, because it looks to a wrong Source for 
its aid. It expects to reform the world by preaching the Love 
— and the Hate — of an omnipotent Jehovah ; with the neces- 
sity of faith in the virtue of that blood tragedy called "Jesus 
Christ and him crucified." The world can be restrained thus, 
but not reformed. The sectarian harness may be worn by 
thousands ; they may work in the traces of duty, as kindly and 
docile as horses used to the gearing ; but at the end of life, 
what are they ? Are they unfolded in Love and Wisdom ? 
Are they attractive representatives of the divine Life ? Nay : 
they terminate their earthly voyage ofttimes as much in bond- 
age — as little developed — as when they began. The greatest 
temporal achievement of a protestant Christian is, to triumph 
over the fear of dying — an accomplishment which the warrior, 
the Hindoo, the Turk, the Roman Catholic, possesses to an em- 
inent degree, reposing upon his bed of death with a serene res- 
ignation. 



REVISED AND CORRECTED. 47 

Is love the best cause of reform ? 

Human love, by itself, is no source of Harmony ; yet, in 
Love do we find that which is good and perfect. Your warm 
heart may be overflowing with Love, but are you, therefore, a 
harmonial man ? No : the most loving and enthusiastic per- 
son, not regulated by intelligence, is perhaps the most impul- 
sive and discordant. Wisdom must throw his temporizing 
influence o'er Love before the soul can become self-poised and 
upright in character. 

What shall be said of modern church-religion 1 

A correspondent of the Southern Literary Herald, after at- 
tending service in Dr. Hawks' church, in New York, very aptly 
replies : " The luxurious pews, everywhere filled with well- 
dressed and comfortably-looking people, were little suggestive 
of the trials and sufferings of the Christians of an earlier day, 
who met upon the open downs, or beneath the leafless oaks of the 
wintry forest, to lift up their voices of praise and supplication 
to God. . . We could not help thinking that the minds of very 
many of the congregation were upon the next day's operations 
in Wall street, rather than upon the service, and that the lit- 
urgy would have been responded to with greater unction, if 
among its deprecatory clauses there had been this little peti- 
tion — From all losses by land or by water, from broken banks 
and bad investments, from false policies and a fall in flour, 
Good Lord deliver us!" Modern Religion is courted so 
long as she resides in costly temples, gets a scholastic presen- 
tation, and is fashionable. 

Are all transgressions of the twelve commandments equally heinous ? 

Some transgressions in themselves, and by reason of several 
external aggravations, are more injurious than others. 

What are the lesser evils ? 

The lesser evils are those not accomplished by voluntary 
yielding to temptation ; but which the spirit suffers as inci- 
dental or inevitable to surrounding circumstances. 

What does every sin deserve ? 

Every sin deserves immediate and total destruction. 

What does the victim or sinner deserve 1 

The sinner deserves the love and blessing of God ineffably 



48 THE assembly's shorter catechism, 

more than the self-sustaining and well-developed ; for the wise 
and happy need not a physician, but those only who are sick 
and unfortunate. 

What does God require of us, that we may escape his wrath and curse due to 
us for sin ? 

The Bible-god, who is not the eternal Companion of Mother- 
Nature, requireth of us faith in Jesus Christ. 

What is faith in Jesus Christ % 

This will be answered, in extenso^ in another chapter of im- 
portant questions. 

What is repentance unto life ? 

Kepentance unto life is a resolution taken in the Wisdom 
faculties, renouncing a personal evil habit, before the whole 
angel-world, whose aid you invoke ; a resolution carried out 
practically in every subsequent act of your life. 

What are the outward and ordinary means whereby Christ communicates to 
us the benefits of redemption ? 

The outward and ordinary means are, the charitable and 
wise efforts to ameliorate the condition of Mankind — efforts to 
instruct youth, to elevate the downtrodden, to ennoble intel- 
lect, to promote genius, to harmonize national interests, to cre- 
ate equitable industrial relations between the different classes, 
to purge existing governments, to reform creed-born religions, 
to abolish servitude, to bring the Harmony of Heaven on the 
whole Earth. 

How is the " Word" made effectual to salvation ? 

If by " the word" you mean the twelve living commandments 
written by Father-God and Mother-Nature in the eternal sub- 
stance of every human being, then it is made effectual only by 
virtue of a reasonable understanding of its positive teachings 
and conforming thereto with a stern love of perpetual personal 
righteousness. 

What is meant by personal righteousness 1 

By personal righteousness is meant the doing of whatsoever 
is right in the light of your own moral intuitions ; the oppo- 
site of that which you believe to be wrong. 

How is the " Word" to be read and heard, that it may become effectual to sal- 
vation ? 

If by " salvation" you mean the rescue of man from Igno- 



.REVISED AND CORRECTED. 49 

ranee and its misfortunes, then the " word" (meaning the body 
and soul) may be read and heard effectually when selfishness 
shall be magnanimous enough to bring on earth, a Harmonial 
Brotherhood ; because the highest selfishness is identical with 
universal benevolence, " honesty is the best policy," and that 
which renders happiness permanently to one individual is a 
steadfast blessing to the whole race. 

What is true religion 1 

True religion is universal Justice — which begins at the cen- 
tre of the individual and widens outwardly, wave-like and' as 
the ocean swells, till All are clasped in one pure embrace of 
Love — predicating, thus, the Happiness of all upon the Har- 
mony of each. 

What are the sacraments of this religion 1 

The sacraments of this religion are : first, personal cleanli- 
ness and chastity ; second, a heart full of warm devotional 
Love to man and to Deity ; third, a head full of serene, 
strong, steady Wisdom ; fourth, reverence for the marriage re- 
lation ; fifth, the regeneration of the world as far as possible 
through little children ; sixth, and every humanitarian institu- 
tion which promotes the welfare of the several working classes. 

What are the sacraments of the New Testament 1 

If by the "New Testament" you mean the New Dispensa- 
tion, then the sacraments are : first, the Immortality of the 
spirits of all men ; second, the immediate resurrection of the 
soul (retaining the shape of the body) at death into a purer 
progressive world ; third, the enjoyment of intercourse with 
the departed through several mediations. 

What is haptism % 

Baptism is a sacrament of the new dispensation, signifying a 
bathing in the rivers of Infinite Truth, which flow unobstructed 
through the boundless gardens of existence — through the vast 
territories of Mind and Matter — the imperishable Home of 
Father-God and Mother-Nature, through whose sacred laby- 
rinths the feet of men may tread with steadiness, in whose 
depths of translucent waters the earthly pilgrim may bathe his 
weary soul, and receive strength to ascend higher mountains 
of contemplative intelligence. 

4 



50 

To whom is baptism to be administered ? 

Baptism is not to be administered to any that are not ask- 
ing for New Truths — that is, no one can receive the bath of 
progressive Ideas unless his soul seeketh to 'know Mother-Na- 
ture and to wed his life-work with her All-Wise Companion. 

What is the Lord's supper 1 ? 

The Lord's supper is any hospitable and philanthropic feast, 
either physical or spiritual, which neither profanes the body 
nor brutifies the soul, but yieldeth enjoyment and awakeneth 
gratitude. 

What is prayer ? 

Prayer is a spontaneous act of Filial Love ; the soul's invol- 
untary yearning for perpetual aid; an intuitive acknowledg- 
ment to the supernal for the fact of existence ; a desire for 
additional benefits and continued happiness. 

What is the origin of prayer ? 

The habit of formal praying originated among the religious 
sects of Egypt ; a plan for placating the vengeance of angry 
gods, and for soliciting aid from supernatural beings ; to avert 
impending calamities, cure disease, and secure local prosperi- 
ties. 

Does prayer influence Father-God ? 

All human history returns a negative answer ; all experi 
ences, termed special providences, yield to a different explana- 
tion. (See 2d vol. of the Great Harmonia.) 

What is the legitimate effect of prayer ? 

The effect of too much reliance upon the invisible for aid, is, 
to beget weak-mindedness and unfitness for any great work ; 
no man can accomplish much who doubts his personal capabili- 
ties and shirks individual responsibility. 

Is there no good effect in prayer ? 

Yes ; the normal effect in prayer is twofold — first, to open 
and prepare the soul for spiritual influx and illumination — 
second, to attract a portion of the angel-world into harmony 
with our interior necessities. 

How would you further define prayer? 

I would further define prayer by affirming it to be natural 
to all theological infants, and strictly spontaneous with those 



REVISED AND CORRECTED. 51 

who, being children in the sentiment of religion, feel inward de- 
mands which only prayer can fully supply and stimulate. 

Should we pray orally ? 

True spirit-prayer, like the glory of morning dew, ascends 
noiselessly. The answer ? that conies, welcome as the fall of 
rain, when the soul most needs nutrition. 

Is the habit of daily prayer beneficial 1 

That is not beneficial which increaseth your dependency ; 
which impaireth the symmetrical unfolding of a beautiful self- 
containing Manhood. Nevertheless, there are times of inef- 
fable trial — when the stoutest heart, having struggled and 
battled against some terrific enemy to life and happiness, is 
forced to go beyond objective Nature in prayer to the Super- 
natural. 

Is true prayer a voluntary act ? 

Voluntary prayer is suggested by a consciousness of un- 
gratified desires ; but, on the other hand, when needs (more 
imperative than wants) announce themselves at the court of 
Reason, then the heart wells up and overflows its banks in 
spontaneous acknowledgments to the hidden Source of Infinite 
Goodness — " God of my Fathers ! holy, just, and good ! My 

God ! my Father ! my unfailing Hope ! Whom have I 

in the heavens but Thee alone ? On earth, but Thee ; whom 
should I praise ? whom love ?" 

Should little children practise prayer ? 

Little children should be taught that Father-God is a spirit, 
and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in 
truth ; that is to say, children should not think of a position 
of the body, nor of words, but of living good lives and doing 
good for goodness' sake. The daily recollection and exercise of 
this aspiration is a prayer " in spirit ;" while resisting tempta- 
tion, speaking the truth, living peacefully, washing the body, 
learning wisdom, and doing good toward other children — this 
is a prayer " in truth ;" and the Father seeketh such to wor- 
ship him. 

Can a discordant person pray ? 

Yes ; there is no need of prayer where there is no tempta- 
tion — no discord ; the good man's life is a prayer perpetual. 



52 THE assembly's shorter catechism. 

Are words natural to prayerful gratitude ? 

Hannah More hath well answered : — 

"Fountain of Mercy ! Whose pervading eye 
Can look within and read what passes there, 
Accept my thoughts for thanks : 1 have no words. 
My soul o'er-fraught with Gratitude, rejects 
The aid of Language — Lord ! behold my heart." 

When we pray should we think of a Personified-God ? 

True prayer is the result of no intellectual perception of 
persons, relations, effects, or principles ; it bursts suddenly 
forth like a shout of joy, a cry of fear, a word of praise, a 
note of music, a shriek for help ; hence all scholastic lip- 
service in churches, like a blessing hurriedly spoken by hungry 
mouths over a feast of fat things, is an inevitable profanation. 
Oh, how I love that brother and that sister — the spontaneous 
child of Father-God and Mother-Nature — who asketh for spir- 
itual aid, the gratification of unselfish desire — 

" For light and strength to bear 
Our portion of the weight of care 
That crushes into dumb despair 
One half the human race I" 

You have frequently used the terms "Father-God and Mother-Nature," what 
do you mean ? 

By the term Father -God is meant the living Fountain of all 
Causation ; by Mother- Nature is meant the Fountain of all 
Effectuation. 

Are these principles masculine and feminine ? 

Yes ; and the Harmonial marriage of these co-essential and 
co-eternal Principles, half personified and wholly unalterable, 
was followed by prolifications innumerable — children, men, 
spirits, angels, in infinite orders and degrees of perfection — 
which people the countless worlds around, and the spirit Lands 
beyond ; whose unfading groves never feel the blasts of adverse 
winds, whose endless avenues never lead through uncultured 
wilds, whose landscapes never weary the eye, nor exhaust the 
soul that loves the pilgrimage of Eternity ! 

How would you further define the offspring of this most holy marriage ? 

I would further define them by affirming them to be, first, 
all shapes and degrees and relations of Matter : and second, 



REVISED AND CORRECTED. 53 

all forms and unfoldings and effects of Mind. This is the 
broadest general definition of Nature's works. 

If human beings and invisible spirits are legitimate children, do they not re- 
semble their progenitors ? 

Yes ; man's body is a physiological representation of the 
physical universe, and the spiritual universe is psychologically 
revealed in man's mind ; therefore, the harmonial body bears 
the features of Mother-Nature, and the best mental organization 
presents the image and likeness of Father-God. 

What is true morality ? 

True morality is the living-out of your own ideas and senti- 
ments of true religion. That man is truly and gloriously moral 
whose acts spring from the affection of Universal Justice ; whose 
deeds owe their birth to a love of human good and happiness. 

What is fidelity ? 

Fidelity is the integrity of your soul to itself — obedience to 
the angel of God within — to your best and highest Attractions. 

What is infidelity ? 

Infidelity is the wilful violation of that within you which 
you believe to be Truth, Justice, Righteousness. 

What is Truth ? 

Truth is that divine and eternal principle which " fills, 
bounds, connects, and equals all" — the Cause and the Effect 
of infinite Harmony — everywhere cohesive and at all times 
consistent — as in the material so also in the spiritual realms of 

Existence. 

Who is the wisest man ? 

He is the wisest man who comprehendeth the boundaries of 
his own Ignorance, and knoweth the art of destroying them. 

Who is the most successful man 1 

He is the most successful man who seeth the secret victory 
that ever dwelleth within any defeat which may follow an hon- 
est effort. 

Who is the mightiest man ? 

He is the mightiest man who can, at all times and amid all 
circumstances, control the impulsions of Love by the voice of 
Wisdom. 



54 THE assembly's shorter catechism, 

"Who is the greatest philanthropist 1 

He is the greatest philanthropist who does Good to some 
and harm to none. 

Who is the most holy man 1 

He is most holy who never acts contrary to his highest per- 
ception of Right. 

"Who is the best neighbor ? 

He is the best neighbor who regulates his private affections 
and public deeds by the principle of Distributive Justice. 

Who is the best husband ? 

He is the best husband who, when you examine him by your 
highest attractions, hath the cleanest body and the purest spirit. 

Who is the most excellent father ? 

He is the most excellent father who begets his offspring 
through the attractions of pure unadulterated conjugal affec- 
tion ; and who, when blest with the presence of childhood, is 
at once a friend, brother, playmate, and teacher. 

Who is the best wife ? 

She is the best wife who, when you examine her by the intu- 
itions of your highest temperament, is the sweetest girl, the 
truest friend, the gentlest sister, the most attractive woman. 

What is the law of personal progression ? 

The law of personal progression is to be found only in con- 
scientious action for the benefit of others. The soul's strong- 
est cardinal law is Action. When rightly directed, it tendeth, 
like a gently-flowing river, toward self-ennoblement and self- 
perfection : in deeds of good to mankind. 

What is a humbug ? 

This scornful term is very promptly applied to any person, 
association, political party, or institution, which advertises to 
perform a certain feat or produce some special result, but 
does not accomplish it ; yet dogmatically persists, nevertheless, 
in affirming entire fulfilment of promises publicly made or 
pledges privately circulated. The word " Humbug" is usually 
given to a pretender, to a mountebank, or counterfeiter ; and 
sometimes, to that which is neither of these, but is thought- 
lessly prefixed to a matter because it is " new" and opposed to 
the established routine of law, physic, and divinity. 



REVISED AND CORRECTED. 55 

Have we any examples 1 

Yes ; many political schemes and some ecclesiastical institu- 
tions have never redeemed promises which they have from time 
to time published in their bulletins and programmes. The pop- 
ular evangelical system of reforming mankind by means of 
religious ordinances and canonical rituals, has not performed 
a tenth part of what centuries ago their progenitors advertised 
to accomplish long before the present era. 

What is Man ? 

Man is a product of all the Universe. Physiologically — of 
all orders and degrees of matter: psychologically — of all es- 
senses and properties of Mind. 

How should man be studied ? 

Man should be studied as the Epitome of Father-God and 
Mother-Nature. He may ask of his existence through science, 
through art, through music, through the emblems of visible cre- 
ation, through anatomy, through physiology, through psychol- 
ogy, through theology, through philosophy, through imagination, 
through conscience, through all the elements of his heart-love, 
and through all the attributes of his Wisdom. 

What is Science 1 

Science is an intellectual perception and systematic classifi- 
cation of Facts. 

What is Alt'? 

Art is the temporary beautification of ordinary objects by the 
skill of human nature ; the transformation of lower substance 
into human uses and available benefits. 

What is Music 1 

Music is the normal translation of mute sentiments into ex- 
pressive sounds ; the best revelation of the celestial subtilties 
which animate the human soul ; the only language of the angel- 
world when discoursing of the Harmonies of Nature. 

What is anatomy ? 

Anatomy is a knowledge of forms and structures. 

What is physiology ? 

Physiology is a knowledge of organs and functions. 

What is psychology ? 

Psychology is a knowledge of the mental principle ; based 
upon a perception and classification of its phenomena. 



56 THE assembly's shorter catechism. 

What is theology ? 

Theology is an intellectual inquiry, a conjectural specula- 
tion, concerning the personality and government of a being 
called " God." Modern theology is ancient mythology gone 
to seed ; a product of the poets and semi-philosophers of 
Egypt, Greece, and Rome. 

What is philosophy ? 

Philosophy is a term which may be applied to all legitimate 
exercises of Reason and Intuition. (See 2d vol. of Great Har- 
monia.) I would apply this word to an intellectual percep- 
tion of Facts, to a moral apprehension of Truths, to an intui- 
tive comprehension of Principles ; embracing thus, all science, 
all theology, all religion. 

What is the reason-principle ? 

The reason-principle is the totality of love, spirituality, in- 
tellect. Reason is the flower of the spirit. A law of truth, 
regulating the entire existence of a man — physically, socially, 
intellectually, morally, spiritually — another word for "Wis- 
dom," the soul's eventual Savior. 

What is imagination ? 

Imagination is the subjective mirror of the emblems and im- 
ages of objective Nature ; the authorized forerunner of the in- 
tellect ; the chief interpreter of the sentiments ; the poet-lau- 
reate of the spiritual faculties ; the Argus-eyed clairvoyant of 
the whole interior nature. 

What is the true office of imagination ? 

The true office of imagination is to probe the metaphysics of 
creation ; to give substance to shadows ; to discriminate be- 
tween this and that, and luxuriate in the presence of finely- 
drawn distinctions ; to shape essences otherwise bodiless ; to 
give solidity and representation to invisible thoughts ; to sym- 
bolize the quality of an act ; to individualize and give immor- 
tality to an adjective ; to explore mystic fields, and break the 
forbidden seals of man's life-book ; to sing of the good and 
the true, of the pure and free, in words at once sweetly human 
and majestically divine ; lastly, imagination is designed to 
officiate evermore in transforming the stony-facts of sleepless 
science into bread of life, in moulding the surface-truths of 



REVISED AND CORRECTED. 57 

dignified philosophy into every conceivable form of beauty, 
glory, sublimity, and magnificence ; and, deeper still, to dis- 
cover in all things the presence of truth, in each, man a thought 
of God, in every form the Beautiful. 

What are human thoughts ? 

Human thoughts are the effects of organized cerebral mo- 
tion ; the waves of the waters of life ; the children of organal 
sensation ; the signs of intelligence. 

What are fixed ideas ? 

Human ideas, when fixed, are the patriarchs of the thinking 
faculties ; very fond of control, mostly masculine, and uniformly 
overbearing ; the bench of bishops who first render theological 
mysteries canonical, and then forbid investigation. 

What are conceptions 1 

Conceptions are the beautiful first-born of the imagination ; 
in disposition feminine, in effect tranquillizing and exalting ; 
they act upon the conscience. 

What is the conscience ? 

Conscience is a spiritual sensibility with a dual capacity, 
having a twofold origin — first, innate and eternal ; second, ed- 
ucational and temporary. The latter, an artificial product of 
the circumstances of our existence, is youngest and most ac- 
tive ; natural conscience on the contrary, is first in the soul, is 
inmost, deepest, absolute, and less clamorous. You here see 
the difference between tuition and intuition ; and the reason 
why persons with opposite religions, are equally devoted and 
ready to persecute ; why a Christian's outer conscience can 
justify the present Ishmaelitish system of trade and commerce. 

Why do we not see more of this natural conscience ? 

The undying conscience is now obstructed in its efforts to 
gain the soul's attention. It is the declaration of the principle 
of Justice — the clear voice of Father-God in the garden — con- 
cerning whatsoever is Right to itself and just to all men. Oh, 
how glorious to own a natural conscience ! Yet, as the world 
goes, how extremely painful and inconvenient ! Its demands 
upon its possessor are at once imperative and unpopular ; its 
judgments are neither time-serving nor transient ; its rewards 
are imperishable ; its golden words are engraved, ambrotyped. 



58 THE assembly's shorter catechism, 

by Imagination on the Book of Life ; and the voice of its words 
reverberates through the labyrinths of hidden experience, deny- 
ing to the discordant and sinful soul a moment's silence, till 
each private evil is manfully overcome and its place occupied 
by whatsoever is truly just and fadelessly beautiful. 

Is the imagination deceptive ? 

Yes ; when the understanding is weak or undeveloped, or 
when the natural conscience is overrun or temporarily superse- 
ded by the world's standards of right and wrong, then it is 
that Imagination becomes pregnant with crude forms and hurt- 
ful fancies. 

What is the result in the mind ? 

The subjective result is that these forms and fancies — al- 
though not essentially false in the adaptation which is possible to 
them under the ministrations of enlightened reason — beset the 
mind with innumerable tricks and troublesome extravagances ; 
hence we meet persons who, with a fruitful imagination and little 
conscience, seem to delight even themselves in recounting tales 
and adventures in which they were the heroes and victors. 

Does intellect impair imagination ? 

Far from it ; on the contrary, intelligence and a healthy con- 
science, combined, add consummate grace and facilities immense 
to this prophetic faculty ; they unlock its mystic clairvoyance, 
inspire its pinions with herculean strength, and render it at 
once the most bewitching guest and the best philosopher. 

Why does philosophical education destroy superstition 1 

Because superstition is the product of Imagination, during 
that faculty's childish years, prior to its cultivation and man- 
hood ; hence the more wild and undisciplined a people (like 
the ancient Chinese, Egyptians, Persians, and Jews), the more 
crude their reports of God — the more supernatural and ex- 
travagant their conceptions of religion. 

Are religion and philosophy incompatible 1 

Eeligion and philosophy are sister and brother ; no twins of 
Father-God and Mother-Nature were ever more of one accord ! 

How, then, will you explain the conflicts which frequently occur between 
them? 

There is no conflict between the religion of Nature and pure 



REVISED AND CORRECTED. 59 

philosophy. Philosophy is a universal harmonizer, and inter- 
feres with religion only when its fruitful superstitions and con- 
sequent exaggerations contradict the soul's highest affirmations 
— a just and wholesome interference which, resembling a wise 
parent checking a child's impetuosity and untruthfulness, does 
no injury, but, instead, strengthens and beautifies and intensifies 
yet more and more the native glory of all true Religion and 
pure Humanity. 



QUESTIONS ON LIFE, LOCAL AND UNIVERSAL 



What is Life ? 

Life is felt by countless myriads ; bringing to each a variable 
value and a different significance. Hence many and various 
words, embodying dissimilar postulates, are summoned to the 
work of definition. There are at this moment nearly a thou- 
sand millions of human beings on this globe ; therefore, to the 
problem of Life, there are nearly a thousand millions of solu- 
tions. Man's conception of the answer will correspond to two 
conditions — first, the circumstances of his body — second, the 
center stances of his spirit ; and, however antagonistic the re- 
sponses emanating from those in opposite states of flesh and 
spirit, yet, on the final analysis and synthetic judgment, all an- 
swers will be pronounced essentially homogeneous, and con- 
sistent every way, with the doctrine of a universal Brother- 
hood. 

What is life to childhood ? 

A crown of thanks ! dear reader, for asking me this question ; 
the scene which it unrolls before my spirit is sweet-perfumed 
and bursting-full of promise. To a well-born and happy Child- 
hood, Life is one with silently-creeping grasses, with emerald 
landscapes, with laughing lapping streamlets, with the nervous 
joy of humming bees, with swelling buds and blooming violets ; 
one with flowering and fruiting trees, with the fragrance of 
apple-orchards, with picking clover and sweet grass in the 



62 QUESTIONS ON LIFE, 

meadow, with cuffing the brooklet that goes purling below the 
willows ; one with boat-sailing on the glittering pond at the 
bottom of the field ; one with leaf-clad grape-vines climbing as- 
piringly and lovingly over garden grottoes, with blushing straw- 
berries beneath clefts and upon the rock-wrinkled hillside ; one 
with the fairy dwellers of shady nooks, with the sun-ray among 
inhaling roses, with the diversal singing of trees swept by the 
wind-spirit of the mystic west ; one with the cheery chirp of 
wren and robin ; one with the evening dream of prairie fields 
of fresh-mown hay, with the luxurious beauty of landscapes 
beyond the sunrise ; one with the rushing gayety of the morn- 
ing light, with the early dance of squirrels on the old stone 
wall ; one with the young colt, and the yet trembling calf, and 
the turkey in the pasture, and the timid lamb on the rolling 
lawn ; one with the silvered splendors of midsummer hues, with 
the stillness of a July noon ; one with the fall of rain, with the 
ascending moisture, with the melting bow just now arching the 
far-off horizon ; one with the angel of sleep, with the angel of 
dreams, with the gods of the seasons ; one with the undefina- 
ble romance of new faces that visit at the house, who eat at the 
table, who smile with the baby, and tell innocent stories of 
lands and cities yet to be seen ; one with the ephemeral fasci- 
nation of novel sports, with the painful trouble of finding the 
misplaced plaything ; with the half-sad excitement when bound- 
ing impulses are checked by the interposing voice or strong 
hand of maternal watchfulness ; lastly, and in short — Life to 
the best childhood is the negation of solid happiness, the blush 
of anticipation without the pleasure of participation, the per- 
ception of being without the luxury of understanding it, an in- 
nocence which has never felt the joy of resisted temptation ; 
identical with initial bewitchments and glittering joys innumer- 
able, which surround the citadel of undisciplined sensibilities, 
and which plant, in the rapidly-unfolding imagination, the 
seeds of ideas which rival the Siren Isles in beauty, and the 
realities of this globe as well ; hence childhood, to all poets, 
is a holy foreshadowing of pleasures common to the spirit-Lands, 
a kind of avant courier to the facts of an existence superior to 
the present; a table of contents to the book of the coming 



LOCAL AND UNIVERSAL. 63 

ages ; a daguerreotype, so to speak, of the world beyond, 
painted on earth by the Infinite Sun of the Univercoelum. 

What is life to unhappy childhood 1 ? 

Life to unhappy childhood is the breathing curse of unchaste 
and discordant progenitors ; an organic struggle, panting be- 
tween smiles and tears ; a whipping-post, for the expression 
of domestic discontent and parental brutality ; a receptacle for 
crude and cramped ideas of God and humanity ; the fountain 
of several diseases to be transmitted in coming years to a con- 
sequent posterity. Oh, most unwelcome scene ! 

What is life to youth ? 

Youth is readily magnetized by the diversified phenomena 
of Life. It narcotizes him so gently, more and more day by 
day, till every object, natural as well as artificial, thrills his 
senses with seductive power — saying, " Behold ! I'm but the 
type of what you may possess — the merest shadow of to-mor- 
row's substance ! Press on ! ! On ! ! !" 

What is life to manhood ? 

Life to manhood is an ethereal flame breathed out from the 
mouth of God ; given not to dissolve the world, but to purge 
its dross away, and to beautify all honorable relations. 

What is life to ripened years ? 

The dreams of childhood are faded, but earliest joys come 
back with attractiveness renewed ; youthful resolutions unkept, 
and participations that never filled the measure of desire, visit 
the old man, whose bark rides in the trough of that mountain- 
wave which will quickly cast him, beyond the region of danger, 
high upon the bosom of the Infinite. " Life is short," says Jean 
Paul Richter. " Man has two minutes and a half to live — one 
to smile, one to sigh, and a half to love — for, in the middle of 
this he dies ; but the grave is not deep — it is the shining tread 
of an angel that seeks us. When the unknown hand throws 
the fatal dart at the end of man, then boweth he his head and 
the dart only lifts the crown of thorns from his wounds." 

What is life to the religious man ? 

Life, to the orthodox believer, is God's transcendentally- 
mysterious and unutterably-uncertain gift ; that man, through 



64 QUESTIONS ON LIFE, 

his own free agency and knowledge of moral laws, may fix, while 
in this world, his character and condition for eternal ages. 

Is this opinion truthful ? 

Truthful opinions never impeach the plans of divine effort ; 
neither do they afflict human souls with dismal ideas of the 
vast Beyond. 

What do you mean? 

I mean, in short, that believers of popular dogmas are tor- 
mented with tyrannic fear, and dare not think in freedom, 
"lest God should overhear their doubt — for God is thought to 
be always eavesdropping, and ever on the watch at the keyhole 
of human consciousness, hearkening for the footfall of a wander- 
ing thought — when he will stab at and run them through, and 
then impale them on his thunderbolt fixed in eternal flame." 
Hence, the religious man entertains an idea of God which im- 
peaches at once the majesty of divine Wisdom and the univer- 
sality of divine Love. 

What, then, is life to the man of wisdom ? 

It is the harbinger of those benefits which Time's sickle can 
not mow down, nor the chemistry of death impair ; of lessons 
which, whether heeded and treasured up or not in our early 
years, are the primal causes and necessary rudiments of an 
eternal education. The wise man thinketh that the life of this 
world, like a golden harp of infinite magnitude, yieldeth to the 
use made of it ; music floats out from its vibrating wires, or 
discord goes rolling and winding through the tissues of being, 
just as we play upon it. John G. Whittier hath well said : — 

"We shape, ourselves, our joy or fear 
Of which the coming life is made, 
And fill our future's atmosphere 
With sunshine or with shade, 

" The tissue of the life to be 

We weave with colors all our own, 
And in the field of destiny 
We reap as we have sown. 

" Still shall the soul around it call 

The shadows which it gathered there : 
And, painted on the eternal wall, 
The past shall reappear ! — 



LOCAL AND UNIVERSAL. 65 

" For there we live our life again : 
Or warmly touched or coldly dim 
The pictures of the past remain — 
Man's work shall follow him I" 
What is life to the author of books ? 

William Hazlitt, both thoughtful and imaginative, is ready 
with his reply ; he who never wrote a shallow, dull, or flat-bot- 
tomed sentence ; yet whose position, being half-spiritual and 
wholly rational, may not afford the required response. 

It is no easy task that a writer, even in so humble a class as 
myself, takes upon him ; he is scouted and ridiculed if he fails ; 
and if he succeeds, the enmity and cavils and malice with 
which he is assailed, are just in proportion to his success. The 
coldness and jealousy of his friends not unfrequently keep pace 
with the rancor of his enemies. They do not like you a bit the 
better for fulfilling the good opinion they always entertained 
of you. They would wish, you to be always promising a great 
deal, and doing nothing, that they may answer for the per- 
formance. That shows their sagacity, and does not hurt their 
vanity. An author wastes his time in painful study and ob- 
scure researches, to gain a little breath of popularity, meets 
with nothing but vexation and disappointment in ninety-nine 
instances out of a hundred ; or when he thinks to grasp the 
luckless prize, finds it not worth the trouble — the perfume of 
a minute, fleeting as a shadow, hollow as a sound : "as often got 
without merit as lost without deserving." He thinks that the 
attainment of acknowledged excellence will secure him the ex- 
pression of those feelings in others, which the image and hope 
of it had excited in his own breast, but instead of that he meets 
with nothing (or scarcely nothing) but squint-eyed suspicion, 
idiot wonder, and grinning scorn. It seems hardly worth while 
to have taken all the pains he has been at for this ! 

In youth we borrow patience from our future years : the 
spring of hope gives us courage to act and suffer. A cloud is 
upon our onward path, and we fancy that all is sunshine be- 
yond it. The prospect seems endless, because we do not know 
the end of it. We think that life is long, and that, because 
we have much to do, it is well worth doing : or that no exer- 
tions can be too great, no sacrifices too painful, to overcome 



66 QUESTIONS ON LIFE, 

difficulties. Life is a continued struggle to be what we are 
not, and to do what we can not. But as we approach the goal, 
we draw in the reins ; the impulse is less, and we have not so 
far to go ; as we see objects nearer, we become less sanguine 
in the pursuit ; it is not the despair of not attaining, so much 
as knowing that there is nothing worth obtaining, and the fear 
of having nothing left even to wish for, that damps our ardor 
and relaxes our efforts. We stagger on the few remaining 
paces to the end of our journey ; make, perhaps, one final 
effort ; and are glad when our task is done ! 

What is life poetically considered ? 

Poetically considered, " the web of our life is of a mingled 
yarn, good and ill together. Our virtues would be proud, if 
our faults whipped them not ; and our crimes would despair, 
were they not cherished by our virtues." These are the words 
of that world's writer, Shakspere, who, in one short paragraph, 
supplies the language of Thought, adequate, in fertile souls, to 
the production of twenty essays and fifty sermons on the myste- 
riousness of Life and its benefits. 

If life was all pleasure, could man yield his love of it, and yearn for eternal 
existence beyond the grave ? 

It is most obvious that Letitia E. Landon's spirit-garden was 
cultured by unseen hands. But while, from the flowery slopes 
thereof heavenly incense rose, full of sweetness and spiritual 
gratitude, meanwhile there floated world-ward this low, deep 
sigh : — 

" Oh, love and life are mysteries, both blessing and both blest, 
And yet, how much they teach the heart of trial and unrest !" 

Also, the Offering of Sympathy — published some years since 
— contains a good reply to your interrogation : — 

" Why, when all is bright and happy, should a gloom 
Be spread around us ? Oh ! blind and thoughtless soul ! 
'Tis the same power that reigns, and the same love, 
Is traced alike, in sunshine and in shade : 
The cloud that bears the thunder in its folds 
Comes on the errand of good will to man ! 
Oh ! we should cling too close to earth, and love 
Too well its pleasures and delight, 
Were there no shadows on its scenes of light, 
No sorrow mingled with its cup of joy. 



LOCAL AND UNIVERSAL. 67 

If sweet fulfilment followed all our hopes, 
Like the unfoldings of a spring-flower bud, 
We should not seek a better world than this; 
Where then would be the reachings of the soul 
For higher pleasures, and those purer joys 
That have no other dwelling-place but Heaven !" 

What is life to the chemist ? 

Chemically considered, Life is at once an effect and a con- 
comitant of combustion ; a force evolved, collated, and cen- 
tred by the decomposition of certain elements, inorganic and 
imponderable. Chemico-physiologists find the temperature of 
the human body to be in all parts of the world about ninety- 
eight degrees. Heat is life, says the physiologist, and cold 
is death. Human food contains carbon and hydrogen. 
" These exist in the chyle. . . . The oxygen of the inspired 
air enters the capillary vessels of the lungs, mingles with the 
blood, with which it is carried to the heart, and thence to the 
nutrient capillary vessels of every part of the system. In these 
vessels the oxygen of the arterial blood unites with the carbon 
and hydrogen of the waste atoms, and carbonic acid and water 
are formed. This change among the particles of bodies is at- 
tended with the disengagement of heat." Such is the chemi- 
cal idea of Life. 

What is life physiologically considered ? 

Physiologically considered, and in accord with the material- 
ism of the popular Christian schools of physiological teaching, 
" Life" is the vis vitce of organized bodies — a power of anima- 
tion and recuperation, recognised by its varied phenomena, 
known by a variety of Latin names ; " vis insita," or a power 
in the animal muscle which sometimes acts independently of 
volition ; "vis nervea," or a similar phenomenon of the muscle, 
but produced by the nerves instead of external irritation ; " vis 
medicatrix naturse," or that inherent power of animated beings 
which, in case of disease or accident, proceeds directly to coun- 

ract, repair damages, and restore the system to primal health- 
fulness. 

What is life harmonially considered 1 

My answer is — that, viewed from our scientific position, it 
is the first development of Motion, and the second prophetic 



68 QUESTIONS ON LIFE, 

manifestation, in the vegetable and animal, of that Intelligence 
which eventually buds and blossoms out in the human sense- 
rium. Life is the spirit of all warm blood. It beats eternally 
through the vascular system of immensity — celestially health- 
ful, spontaneously beautiful, and all-animating — fresh out-flow 
ing from the Centre Heart of the united revolving Heavens. 
Contemplated from our poetic position, Life is the soul-love of 
all Nature. Theologically viewed, it is the vital-essence of the 
Infinite mind. When morally viewed, we say, with Longfel- 
low: — 

" Life is real ! life is earnest, 

And the grave is not its goal : 

'Dust thou art — to dust returnest' 

"Was not spoken of the soul! 

Not enjoyment, and not sorrow, 

Is our destined end and way; 
But to act that each to-morrow 

Find us farther than to-day. 

Trust no Future — howe'er pleasant ! 

Let the dead Past bury its dead! 
Act — act in the living Present — 

Heart within, and God o'erhead. 

Lives of true men all remind us 

We can make our lives sublime, 
And, departing, leave behind us 

Footprints on the sands of Time — 

Footprints which perhaps another, 

Sailing o'er Life's troubled main, 
A forlorn, a shipwrecked brother, 

Seeing, shall take heart again ! 

Let us, then, be up and doing, 

With a heart for any fate — 
Still achieving, still pursuing, 

Learn to labor and to wait." 

What is life socially considered ? 

It is a charmed circle of ceaseless friendships ; an ebbless 
river of blessed sympathies ; the fountain and mainspring of 
heart-born joys and loving kindnesses ; of the sweetest delica- 
cies — gentleness, tenderness, loveliness, happiness. 

What is life to the politician ? 

A platform of action, ambition, disappointment ; not regular 



LOCAL AND UNIVERSAL. 69 

ted by Principles, but by policies, and expediencies suited to 
popularities and necessities of the day ; more adapted to gov- 
ern than to improve, more certain to shackle than to liberate. 
From the misfortunes of political strifes and unprincipled glad- 
iators in the area of government ; from the terrors of the god 
of aristocracy whose name is " Mammon ;" from all temporary 
losses, by death, of liberty-loving natures, and, by election, from 
the reckless legislation of undeveloped minds — Good Lord de- 
liver us ! 

What is life to the spiritually-minded 1 

According to the record left of Jesus's utterances by the 
mediumized son of Zebedee and Salome, we learn, that when 
absorbing and incorporating and identifying himself with the 
Principle of Love (or the Christ-principle) , the Blessed Moral 
Reformer said : "lam the bread of Life — he that cometh to 
me shall never hunger — and he that believeth on me shall 
never thirst. . . Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, 
hath eternal Life ; . . . the water that I shall give him shall be 
in him a well of water springing up into everlasting Life." But 
Paul's words, while more explicit and beautiful, may be ac- 
cepted as not less salutary in sentiment : "To be carnally 
minded, is death — to be spiritually minded, is life and peace." 

What is meant by spiritual-mindedness ? 

Each man of sectarian inclinations, with his intellect stored 
by self-constrained renderings of the Christian Scriptures, hath 
an answer of his own — an expression of his intellectual percep- 
tion of what was taught by the Old Masters in spiritual con- 
templation ; but, standing upon the platform of an equal lib- 
erty and not to assume vaster latitudes of spiritual meditation, 
I reply — that, he is spiritually -minded who considers absolute 
purity of heart and life to be the richest human possession, and 
that perfect obedience to the highest faculties and attributes 
(or attractions) of the soul is the only means of its attain- 
ment. 

If such be spiritual-minded, who is the truest teacher of Morals and Religion ? 

Listen ! the reply cometh — resounding in the firmament 
over the pulpits — from Theodore Parker, the fearless iconoclast 
of Christendom : The Teacher of Religion must seek to make 



70 QUESTIONS ON LIFE, 

all men noble. He is not to make any one after the likeness 
of another — in the image of Beecher or Channing, Calvin, Lu- 
ther, Peter, Paul, or Jesus, Moses or Mohammed, but to quicken, 
to guide, and help each man gain the highest form of human na- 
ture that he is capable of attaining to ; to help each to become 
a man, feeling, thinking, willing, living on his own account, 
faithful to his special individuality of soul. I wish men under- 
stood this, that their individuality is as sacred before God as 
that of Jesus or of Moses ; and you are no more to sacrifice 
your manhood to them than they theirs to you. Respect for 
your manhood or womanhood, how small soever your gifts may 
be, is the first of all duties. As I defend my body against all 
outward attacks, and keep whole my limbs, so must I cherish 
the integrity of my spirit, take no man's mind or conscience, 
heart or soul, for my master — the helpful all for helps, for des- 
pots none. I am more important to myself than Moses, Jesus, 
all men, can be to me. Holiness, the fidelity to my own con- 
sciousness, is the first of manly and womanly duties ; that kept, 
all others follow sure.* 

What, then, is the truest Life ? 

No man ever gave a better reply than the author of Fes- 
tus : — 

" We live in deeds not years ; in thoughts not breaths , 
In feelings, not in figures on a dial ; 
We should count time by heart-throbs. He most lives 
Who thinks most, feels the noblest, acts the best." 

Who best comprehends the drift of Life ? 

That far-seeing, comprehensive, intellectual visionist, who, 
aided by an intuitive consciousness of everlasting principles 
invisible to outward sense, grasps that universal, gigantic law 
k vhich uttereth speech from every order and decree of life — 
Interior attractions are absolute prophecies of exterior desti- 
nies; or, in other words, that each radical human Desire is a 
promissory Note, drawn up and endorsed by the Eternal God, 
payable at the ever-solvent Bank of Ultimate Satisfaction. 
This, in very truth, is the glad tidings of great joy which shall 

* See Discourse by Theodore Parker, "On the Function of a Teacher of Reli- 
gion in these Times." 



LOCAL AND UNIVERSAL, 71 

be unto all people : a message delivered to willing minds, by 
the omnipotent and loving Spirit of universal Nature. 

What is life to the man of silence 1 

It is that mysterious mood which envelops " the unknown 
God" — a magnificent scheme of infinite sadness — the only 
natural sequence to pre-existent Sorrows unutterable. 

What do you mean ? 

I mean that of " Silence" there are two kinds — that which 
results from over-thought or over-feeling, and that which is 
created and compelled by the absence of them. The first 
evokes Silence as the only true expression of love, worship, 
gratitude, devotion ; the second is overwhelmed by itself, as a 
desert of hot sand by its own oppressive barrenness and isolated 
desolation. Carlyle speaks from exalted silence : " When I 
gaze into the stars, they look down upon me with pity from 
their serene and silent spaces, like eyes glistening with tears, 
over the lot of man. Thousands of generations, all as noisy as 
our own, have been swallowed up by time, and there remains 
no record of them any more ; yet Arcturus and Orion, Sirius, 
and the Pleiades, are still shining in their courses, clear and 
young as when the shepherd first noticed them in the plains of 
Shinah !" 

What is true silence 1 

True silence is the handmaid of meditation ; she is a good 
and faithful friend to him who prays in secret. 

What is meditation ? 

Meditation is a beautiful angel-queen, clad in the white at- 
tire of spiritual purity, throned within the crystal palace of 
eternal Truth, within the "House not built with hands" — 
the Home of God, whose countless Mansions — heated with 
Love, lighted with Wisdom, ventilated with freedom, furnished 
with peace — bedeck the fields of Infinitude ; each House with 
many doors ; each door opening upon a new path in the pilgrim- 
age of progression ; and each new way leading the traveller 
into a different department of Father-God and Mother-Nature ! 

What is life to the merchant 1 

Life to the merchant hath three distinct phases. Remember 
these words — Meditation is the door which opens upon the divine 



72 QUESTIONS ON LIFE, 

Presence — and I will answer the question. Fatigued with an 
excess of externalism, with his will all overlaid and regulated 
by the irresistible logic of a prodigious necessity, and although 
lost, as one might suppose, to every interior thought, yet have 
I seen a certain man, though a merchant, become temporarily 
a wooer of the blessednesses of meditation. 'Twas a strange 
spectacle ! His senses firmly locked, shut up within the world- 
proof intrenchments of a conscious individuality, substituting 
day-boohs and ledgers for the book of life, his best customers 
denied admission, his whole aspect saying — " Closed, to take an 
account of stock.''' Yes, distinctly I saw him, that merchant, cal- 
culating the results of his contact with his fellows — the profit 
and loss — how much happiness he owns, and how much misery 
— and seeing himself, butterfly-like, flitting away his existence 
up and down the fatal ledger-leaf, he writes, at the end of his 
retrospection — " It don't pay." Brief words these, but fright- 
fully full of meaning. Behold ! how the spirit of the age — 
half-fanatical with the inward flames of a bold constructive en- 
terprise — arouses and re-energizes that merchant. " It don't 
pay" to be lost in vague abstractions — therefore, " thankful 
for past favors, resolved to merit a continuance of public pat- 
ronage," he unbars the doors and decorates his windows: sol- 
emnly pledges himself, mind and might, to the graceless gods 
of this world ; predetermines to live, like his neighbors, and 
equally well with the best of them, by feeding the heartless 
wants and feverish fashion of the fleeting hours ; becomes rec- 
reant to his inner weal, an apostate to personal righteousness, 
sears and searches the goods and glories of conscience — alas ! 
what do I see? — Bulletins, swinging out at each corner of his 
soul, saying — "Damaged goods at a bargain." 

And yet, blinded by the blushes of occasional success, he 
pushes forward. His soul's hidden merchandise and all his 
habits are popular ; but he would sell for " less than cost." 
Push off the injured stocks, so damaged by the fire of an 
offended conscience ; the clerks, his thoughts, are ordered to 
sell them ; they do so — and the merchant fancies himself vic- 
torious — the world is purchased by his spiritual devotion to 
it ; but, after all, there remaineth a frightful residuum, a mass 



LOCAL AND UNIVERSAL. 73 

of ruined goods in the secret closets of his soul, on which is 
written, as by an angel's mighty hand — " Menc, Mene, Tekel." 
And the merchant weeps ! Defeat has walked by his side 
day and night, like a wolf in borrowed garb, dressed in the 
manner of victory. Ah ! he has driven too oft from his soul 
the spirit of Meditation — has refused to enter in at the strait 
gate ; from day to day he has allowed his business to master 
his manhood, has violated the laws of body and mind ; and, 
offending still his yet surviving perception of the Rights of 
Man, he is prostrated helpless on his self-made bed of death. 
An angel of deathless friendship — weeping, speechless, power- 
ful — stands yet by his side. And hung out over each door of 
the fast-decaying store, the material temple of the spiritual oc- 
cupant, is the flag of death, the auctioneer, saying — "As- 
signee's sale ; no postponement on account of weather." 

Erorn all the foregoing perceptions of Life, what rules shall we adopt to sub- 
serve individual harmony and social happiness? 

My whole answer is concentrated in the following directions 
for establishing the Harmonial Dispensation : — 

" Thy Kingdom come." — How to bring- it. — 1. In the 
Morning arise — resolved to do nothing against, but everything 
for, the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth. 2. Happiness for all 
being the object, let every action during the Day spring from 
such well-conceived and well-developed thoughts as lead to its 
attainment. 3. In the Evening retire — at Peace with your- 
self — at Peace with the divine principles of universal Love and 
Wisdom. 

"Thy Will be done." — How to do it. — 1. Be instructed 
by the Past, and by all it has brought you. 2. Be thankful 
for the Present, and for all its blessings. 3. Be hopeful for 
the Future, and for all it promises to bring you. 

Observe these Rules, and the Harmonies of the kingdom of 
God will be with you, and Peace on Earth and good will 
toward Man be realized. 



QUESTIONS ON THEO-PHYSIOLOGY. 



What is Nature 1 

Nature is the sevenfold manifestation of the Great Positive 
Mind. 

What is the Great Positive Mind ? 

The Great Positive Mind is the crystalization of all Es- 
sences — the focalization of all Principles — to an extent wholly 
incomprehensible . 

Is Nature separate from this Mind 1 

No ; what we term Nature is the eternal associate of Deity 
— one living in and through the other, " all in all" — as the 
mutual dependence of Cause and Effect. 

What are Principles ? 

Principles are the changeless methods whereby all essences 
are regulated in their ascension from primates to ultimates — 
from simplicity to diversification — from a state of merely ab- 
stract vitality to orderly embodiment and permanent organiza- 
tion. 

Is God confined to a centre or focus in space ? 

The spirit of God is an omnipresent spiritual principle — 
animating and regulating the universal whole — being himself 
governed by the involuntary necessities of His own constitution. 

Does God know all events eternal years before they transpire. 

God knows only through the ever-awakening intelligences 
of his universal existence. 



76 QUESTIONS ON THEO-PHYSIOLOGY. 

Can God do all things ? 

God is not sufficiently powerful to accomplish self-destruc- 
tion. There are, therefore, necessities to omnipotence. 

Is God a progressive being ? 

There is no increase of the quantities of mind or matter ; but 
of progress in qualities and permutations there is no limitation. 

Is the universe boundless ? 

Boundlessness is a comparative term applicable only to in- 
finity, not to the organic or inorganic contents thereof ; what 
men term Infinity, is that shoreless extent of space in which 
the universe revolves. 

Are the contents of infinity eternally fixed ? 

Eternal fixedness can be predicated only of Principles. 

Are not essences also immutable ? 

Immutability is true of essences only when applied to their 
endlessly diversified and ceaseless mutations. That is to say, 
all vitalic and energizing elements are strictly immutable in 
their changeability. 

Do essences exist for ever 1 

There is no non-existence. Infinity is something containing 
something. Boundless space is at all moments occupied with 
unimaginable fields of matter and motion — elementary princi- 
ples these, on their way up the dizzy acclivities of immensity, 
reaching forward progressively after expression through living 
organizations. 

Is there no department of infinity unemployed? 

No ; there is no space unoccupied — no vacuum hospitable 
to that which should be destroyed. There is nothing existing 
without embodying divine ideas and subserving eternal uses. 
Whatsoever is good and useful can not be destroyed, and inas- 
much as there is nothing but what is animated by the one spirit 
of goodness and utility, so is there nothing capable of annihila- 
tion in all the realms of Infinitude. . 

Is man's individuality lost in future spheres ? 

No ; never ! Because man's spiritual entity, unlike that of 
any inferior being, is a product of an indissoluble alliance 
matrimonial, between all atoms of matter and all principles of 
mind ; the ultimate form of all forces, the fruit of the univer- 



QUESTIONS ON THEO-PHYSIOLOGY. 77 

sal tree, and retaineth the image and inheriteth the immortal- 
ity of his divine progenitors. 

What is the most important question 1 

The most important question to this age is, that kind of in- 
terrogation which looketh into the origin of the human species ; 
to man's improvement from the very beginning. 

How can this be accomplished ? 

Healthy and well-constituted offspring can be brought into 
existence by means of just, chaste, and harmonial marriages 
of men and women ; through obedience to the twelve command- 
ments. 

How can such marriages be secured 1 

True marriages may be secured by parents teaching their 
sons and daughters the uses of such relations ; and then, by 
instructing them in a knowledge of the central temperaments, 
let them go forth and make choice upon their own responsibil- 
ity. (See 4th vol. of Great Harmonia, and Marriage and Pa- 
rentage by H. C. Wright.) 

But how shall we comprehend your philosophy of the central temperaments ? 

By observation and intuitional study, as you obtain, a reli- 
able knowledge of any subject, either scientific or religious. 

Can you not give more details containing the temperaments 1 

Not yet ; the " Reformer" was written to quicken the world 
in the direction of matrimonial progress ; and thus, by stir- 
ring the waters of life, develop questions which some other 
day will answer ; that day has not yet dawned upon the world. 

Would such marriages be more fruitful ? 

No; true nuptial relations, consummated on the harmonial 
basis, while yielding vast harvests of golden joys for the world 
to sow and reap, would be less prolific in the multiplication of 
children. 

How do you explain this lack of productiveness 1 

The explanation is, that none but the intellectual and spirit- 
ual in motive can conceive of and enter upon a high order of 
marriage ; and such, being superior to extremism, and conse- 
quently deficient in the germinal properties of mere blood-love, 
must of necessity bring into existence fewer children, but bet- 
ter far in every organic essential. 



78 QUESTIONS ON THEO-PHTSIOLOGY. 

What is the invisible spiritual principle in man ? 

The spiritual principle is a term employed in this Philosophy 
to designate that affectional and intelligent dynamical influence 
by which the human organization is animated and governed. 

But you say on page 103 of the Great Harmonia, vol. i., that "Disease is a 
want of equilibrium in the circulation of the spiritual principle." Now if this 
principle be organized, having form and solidity as you affirm, how can it circu- 
late in the physical structure ? 

The explanation is complete when I add four words to the 
proposition, thus — disease is a want of equilibrium in the cir- 
culation of the superficial elements of the spiritual principle. 
This spiritual principle, being compounded of essences infi- 
nitely refined, and cherishing affinities more or less powerful for 
the several imponderable elements from which in part it derived 
its substance and individuality, is subject to their positive and 
negative action ; that is to say, the superficial elements perva- 
ding the spiritual principle, may be heated or expanded, and 
cooled or contracted, by the action of magnetic atmospheres or 
electric agents, which at all times and everywhere surround 
the body of the human soul. In this manner the spiritual 
principle may be contracted or expanded (in its superficial 
departments) by the presence of heat or cold, as is proved by 
common experience, and thus be made to lose its healthy bal- 
ance or equilibrium ; in which case the individual is attacked 
with one of two conditions — a fever, or a chill — the one 
produced by a positive or magnetic state, the other by its op- 
posite, the negative or electrical. 

How does sensation (partly existing on the exterior of the physical body) 
which circulates through the sensitive nerves, transmit itself from its own vessels 
to other more interior and unnatural receptacles, as the mucous membranes ? 

The answer is simple. Although the invisible spiritual 
principle is an organized and indestructible substance, yet it 
is clothed by a transitory medium, sensation, capable of being 
influenced by heat and cold, repelled or attracted, as already 
explained. In further illustration let me remark, that " sensa- 
tion" is a term used in the Harmonial Philosophy with two 
significations. 

What are these two significations 1 

The first, that sensation is an ingredient or elementary prin- 



QUESTIONS ON THEO-PHYSIOLOGY. 79 

ciplc of the immortal mind ; the second, that sensation is a 
pervading attribute of the spiritual body-, dwelling ordinarily 
on the external surfaces. Now, inasmuch as this attribute is 
exposed (because dwelling on the serous membranes and sur- 
facial nerves) to the action of elements in the outer world, so 
is it (sensation) liable to be thrown into different phases of 
operation, caused, as before said, by the presence and influence 
of different degrees of temperature. 

Can you illustrate this proposition ? 

Yes ; common atmospheric electricity, for example, is ca- 
pable simultaneously of diminishing surface sensation and of 
increasing the sensibility of the interior portions; while, on 
the other hand, atmospheric magnetism is adequate to the pro- 
duction of effects precisely opposite. 

Can a part, which goes to form a perfect organization, be displaced thus and 
transposed, without producing disorganization ? 

Yes ; all this, that is a change of action among the atoms 
of blood and a change of temperature in the subtler fluids, 
may occur without in any degree disturbing or deranging or 
displacing the deific substances of which the spiritual inmost 
is composed, even though such changes might be prolonged 
and sufficient to destroy the physiological functions and liber- 
ate the immortal mind. You perceive, then, that Sensation — 
not as an elementary principle of the organized soul, but only 
when in the capacity of an attribute or medium — is subject to 
diversal transpositions. These, I denominate " a loss of equilib- 
rium" — the beginning of all diseases — the initial type being 
Fever and Ague. 

What shall we do to make others unhappy ? 

You may be efficient in the production of unhappiness to 
others, first, by having a lust of control and benevolence suffi- 
ciently small to constantly fret at and get angry with those 
(quite as good as yourself), whose ruling temperaments natu- 
rally differ with your own ; second, by living practically upon 
the extreme or inverted planes of Self-Love ; or, third, by viola- 
ting any one of the twelve commandments, as set forth in the 
present publication and in the second volume of the Great 
TIarmonia. 



80 QUESTIONS ON THEO-PHYSIOLOGY. 

When we travel for pleasure how shall we contrive to be miserable 1 

You may accomplish this result in various ways — first, by 
mentally carrying all your business along, or the perplexities 
of your housekeeping establishment ; second, by packing up 
without system, and taking with you seventy-five per cent, more 
baggage than you will absolutely require ; third, by cultivating 
feelings of hostility to the least inconvenience, and by com- 
bating the delays at passenger stations ; fourth, by eating a 
large quantity of food, and by drinking stimulating fluids or 
water, when not really thirsting ; fifth, by perseveringly avoid- 
ing every attempt at ventilation, and by wearing more gar- 
ments than the temperature demands ; lastly, by indulging 
your inverted fraternal love in thinking over the faults, plot- 
ting the downfall, or envying the good fortune, of some ac- 
quaintance, present or absent. 

How shall children be made nervous, fretful, and sick, while travelling 1 

There are a multitude of rules, but none more correct than 
the following : Give the child a little pieee of something to 
eat every fifteen or twenty minutes throughout the journey — 
besides, forbid its talking fast ; forbid its crying even when too 
long restrained ; forbid its desire to run about, and keep its 
mouth half smothered in the nurse's bosom. 

Can you not give some plan whereby to fulfil this prescription, and thus make 
the child's unhappiness and sickness a matter of certainty 1 

Yes ! The surest plan, one which has been " tried over and 
over again" and proved most successful, is this : Before setting 
out on a day's trip by the cars, provide your pockets and car- 
pet-bags with the requisite variety and quantity of colored 
toys and confectionary substances. For example : After the 
first ten miles' entertainment has wearied your child's senses — 
after witnessing the phantom phenomenon of fields, fences, 
trees, villages, moving rapidly toward the place you left behind 
— when your child begins to ask questions, " When will we be 
home?" exhibiting symptoms of coming restlessness — wants 
to change its seat, &c, &c, then fumble in one of your pockets, 
and, finding, give it a stick of peppermint candy ; that gone, 
give next the half of an apple with its core ; next, as the child 
grows still more restless, about two cents' worth of peanuts ; 



QUESTIONS ON THEO-PHYSIOLOGY. 81 

these will do very well for half an hour's entertainment, when 
the little eyelids will close in a dreamful sleep of fifteen minutes' 
duration ; then, as its mouth begins the exercises well known 
as preparatory to a half-angry and nervo-pathetic cry, put a 
stop to this by means of a sandwich you had the presence of 
mind to prepare before starting ; next give it a baker's sweet- 
cake, or — which will do as well — some homemade jumbles ; but 
as the hours wear slowly away, and your child's unhappiness 
and nervousness continue to increase, give it a dose of medicine, 
according to directions on the outside of the bottle ; when its 
thirst becomes unbearable (after eating the sandwich), give 
it a drink of lukewarm water, which may be found at the end 
of the ladies' car ; and now, as the cherub face looks com- 
paratively happy once more, try to increase it by placing in 
the dimpled hand a fine sweet orange — Jf^ 2 * don't take off the 
skin, nor remove the seeds ; but inasmuch as, while eating the 
orange, the busy head unwillingly bumped itself on the cor- 
ner of the adjoining seat, and as the otherwise well-behaved 
child is suddenly attacked with a fretful fever and headache, 
therefore now is the time to give the other half of the apple 
aforesaid ; this should be followed by a regular attempt to feed 
the empty (!) stomach, which, owing doubtless to the blow on 
the head, is without desire for the substantial articles ; never- 
theless, don't be discouraged, even if the appetite is gone and 
the fever does heat the brow, but give a piece of cocoanut 
candy or a stick of licorice-root, so very simple ; as this will be 
quickly disposed of (a part having fallen in a pool of tobacco 
juice which a gentleman has caused to flow beneath), return 
to your peppermints and peanuts, to your almost-forgotten 
crackers and cheese, to your remaining oranges and apples ; 
and finally, as soon as you get out of the cars, take the quickest 
conveyance home, with the sick child in your arms, giving it 
innumerable promises of new shoes, of beautiful rocking-horses, 
of a bran new article of clothing, &c, &c. ; when arrived, de- 
spatch word to the most respectable physician, get him in your 
house, and say : " Doctor ! do something quick for our child. 
Wife and I (not having any paregoric with us) have made un- 
wearied efforts during the whole journey to keep the little dar- 

6 



82 QUESTIONS ON THEO-PHYSIOLOGY. 

ling still. About mid-day we noticed its little forehead was 
feverish. No appetite since morning — couldn't eat any lunch 
with us — and hasn't been able to take any nourishment ! Oh ! 
dear — do something for the child ! What have we done to be 
so visited and afflicted by Providence ? Doctor ! what is the 
matter ?" To which that gentleman gravely replies : " Pulse 
indicative of a high fever — gastric irritation — threatened 
with convulsions — a dangerous diarrhoea — with inflammation 
of the bowels — scarlet fever — prospective water on the brain 
— I can tell better to-morrow morning." 

If our child should die, what shall we have preached at its funeral ? 

You should send for your physician's most distinguished 
friend and co-laborer, namely, the most respectable pastor in 
town. In his prayer, let him inform the Supernatural that we 
recognise this event, the plucking of this rose from its parent 
stock, as another warning (to those remaining) to believe on the 
Lord Jesus, and in his death for sinners' sake. In the sermon 
he should dwell, with touching eloquence and tears in his eyes, 
on the mysterious ways of Providence, on the incomprehensi- 
bility of God's ways to man, on the doctrine that God gives 
and God takes away ; the whole to conclude with a pathetic 
prayer, touching upon the doctrine that the young spirit has 
gone " to the bourne whence no traveller returns," gone to the 
regions of the incomprehensible, gone to the mysterious un-get- 
at-able world, except through " faith" in the recognised stand- 
ards of evangelical truth ! 

How shall a child be made quiet and happy while travelling ? 

By adopting a course diametrically unlike the foregoing. 
The excitement of changing and moving about, and not the 
labor of doing it, is the cause of & fictitious desire to eat. Chil- 
dren and adults alike require but little nourishment while trav- 
elling — taken as near as possible to the accustomed hours 
while at home. Preserve your balance thus, and your journey, 
even if half round the world, will be cheerful and compara- 
tively without fatigue. 

What is the eye ? 

The eye is the portal through which the soul looks out upon 
the universe : the light of the body ; it is the Master Artist 



QUESTIONS ON THEO-PHYSIOLOGY. 83 

in the picturesque Academy of intellectual Design ; it is the 
image of a principle. 

What offices are there assigned to the visual organs ? 

Assigned to the visual organization are three offices — first, 
to paint the exact shadow of external objects upon that invisible 
and all-embracing canvass, called Imagination — second, to es- 
tablish and regulate Memory by illuminating and expanding the 
understanding — third, to discover in the wilderness of human 
experiences the ever-pleasant and ever-attractive Paths of Pure 
Wisdom — paths beginning in the lowest valley, even at the 
foot of the cradle of life, winding all the way round the im- 
mense base of rudimental existence, and thence, with an imper- 
ceptible transition, continuing their unbroken lead spirally 
onward through an endless galaxy of golden homes in firma- 
ments eternal. 

Is the philosophy of vision comprehended ? 

No ; the philosophy of human vision is as yet but little un- 
derstood. If the beautiful structure of the globe of the eye 
was said to be a faithful representative of the three grand Laws 
of Nature, physicians would smile ; yet what is more familiar 
to the occulist than the scientific classification of the visual 
membranes and humors — as the following: — 

THE COATS. THE HUMORS. 

1st. The sclerotic and cornea. 1st. The aqueous or watery. 

2d. The choroid and ciliary. * 2d. The crystalline (lens). 

3d. The retina, or inmost membrane. 3d. The vitreous or glassy. 

Here are indicated the presence and action of a trinity of 
living Laws, which flow out into corresponding organizations. 

Is the ear similarly constructed ? 

Yes ; and every organ to be found in the animal or mental 
empire. The ear, for example, is composed of three anatomical 
parts, thus : 1st, the furrowed cartilage, or external ear ; 2d, 
the tympanum, or middle ear ; 3d, the labyrinth, or internal 
ear. So, also, by scientific classification, we learn that the 
labyrinthal part of the ear is composed of a //zree-cornered 
cavity, called the vestibule, the cochlea, and the semi-circular 
canals. Behold, herein, the action of triune laws. 



84 QUESTIONS ON THEO-PHYSIOLOGY. 

What is the tongue ? 

The tongue is a standard of judgment to the combined 
digestive organization ; besides which, it is the soul's chief and 
truest interpreter. 

How is the tongue a source of judgment ? 

Through its sensational capacities. Owing to the admirable 
accuracy of its impressible nerves, the tongue is capable of de- 
ciding both in sickness and in health, what foods and beverages 
will best subserve the offices of the stomach ; in this judgment 
it is wiser than all the inferential dietetic systems either of 
chemists or physiologists, and when strictly confided in and 
obeyed, will save the whole body from all extremes and 
physical discordance. Hence every tongue must be its own 
judge. 

If this be true, why do persons who "indulge their appetites." complain of ill- 
ness and propagate disease ? 

Because they violated, in the days of youthful rashness, that 
standard of taste which is supreme in the tongue. Alcohol and 
opium and tobacco were originally forced into the mouth, con- 
trary to the repeated remonstrances of the lingual sensibilities, 
until violence and insult have established the reign of tempo- 
rary silence over both tongue and conscience, but the " ills" 
of days' or months' or years' continuance do utter the language 
of condemnation, and urge the paralyzed will to begin the 
work of self-reform. 

What are the uses of the tongue 1 

The office of this inestimable instrument is fourfold — first, to 
report to the physician's eye the secret condition of the sympa- 
thetic nerves and the ganglionic centres ; second, to divulge 
to the ear of friendship the affections and emotions of the heart ; 
third, to transform the deepest thoughts of intelligence into 
sounds which the listening spirit can remember for ages after- 
ward ; fourth, to tell the ever-attractive lessons which unfet- 
tered and progressive souls absorb from the vital system of the 
Infinite. 

When is the tongue misemployed 1 

When it is made to embrace anything not welcome to its in- 
fallible standard of justice. You well know that your discrimi- 



QUESTIONS ON THEO-PHYSIOLOGY. 85 

nation of flavors did not spring from an original intellectual 
perception of them ; nay, the intellectual faculties acquire their 
education respecting foods and drinks from the testimonies and 
admonitions furnished by the thrice wiser tongue ; which, if 
intelligently and conscientiously heeded, would at once set up 
an everlasting barrier of defence against the invasion of multi- 
tudinous medicines and epicurean habits at present so ex- 
tremely orthodox and fashionable. To the human as well as 
animal, either in sickness or in health, one rule is for ever safe 
— namely : ask the organ of smell what odors will delight, and 
the organ of taste what flavors will please, then cat and drink 
(as directed in 4th vol. of the Harmonia) ; and the nose and 
mouth will notify your Reason that a swallow of fluid or a 
mouthful of bread after thirst is slaked or hunger is appeased, 
is wasteful and mischievous excess, entailing habits of intem- 
perance and the seeds of disease. 

When is the tongue an instrument of torture 1 

When it cries out "Crucify him! crucify him!!" — words 
which, while imparting no good tidings, put mighty weapons of 
persecution in the hands of the ignorant and prejudiced. Beware 
of that tongue which delighteth in the sequestered causes and 
private details of broken friendship ; which propagates the last 
tale of misfortune or slander concerning individuals and fami- 
lies at home, or of nations' quarrels in distant lands. 

When is the tongue an angel of mercy ? 

When, warmed by an overflowing heart of tenderness, it 
uttereth the words of that Friendship which could be neither 
purchased by the golden gifts of prosperity nor sold when 
misfortune sent an auctioneer to dispose of your transient pos- 
sessions. 

When is the tongue the noblest friend of man 1 

When it proclaims in thunder-tones the unreversable princi- 
ples of Love and Wisdom and Liberty in behalf of every peo- 
ple and for all races of men ; against the mischievous hatred 
of tyrants, against the unbridled despotism of monarchies, 
against the bitterness and bigotry of religionists, against every 
institution that works antagonistic to the largest freedom of 
any object bearing the image of humanity. 



86 QUESTIONS ON THEO-PHYSIOLOGY. 

When is the tongue a promoter of pleasure 1 

When it ministers instructive anecdotes to the circle of 
friendship, and when, without irony and satire, it sets in har- 
monial motion the wheels of Wit, Humor, and convivial Mirth- 
fulness. Yet story-telling (according to Dean Swift) is subject 
to two unavoidable defects ; frequent repetition, and being- 
soon exhausted — so that, he who values this gift in himself, 
has need of a good Memory, and should frequently shift his 
company. 

What is the use of man's body 1 

The use of man's body, is : to mould and organize and de- 
velop his internal Principle — termed soul, mind, spirit — an 
indestructible conscious entity. 

What is the use of the soul, mind, spirit ? 

The use of the spirit, as was said in the first chapter, is the 
spirit's indefinite problem — a mystery, which one short sen- 
tence may possibly dissipate, viz. : to give a conscious, intelli- 
gent expression to the eternal attributes of Father-God and 
Mother-Nature. 

Is man's thinking principle, his spirit, extracted or obtained from whatsoever 
he breathes, eats, and drinks ? 

Man's spiritual body (which contains his inmost being) is 
elaborated and fashioned, by means of his various bodily organs, 
from unatomized substances extracted out of air, food, water, 
and the several imponderable principles. But man's inmost — 
his spiritual principle — is a deific essence. 



QUESTIONS ON THE DESPOTISM OF OPINION. 



How many forms of despotism are there ? 

There are three forms of despotism — two are institutional ; 
one, is individual — namely, political despotism, ecclesiastical 
despotism, and the despotism of opinion. 

What can be said of North America as a country % 

Politically considered, and notwithstanding its justification 
of chattel slavery, North America, as a country, is the freest 
and the best. But France, England, and Germany, while labor- 
ing under numerous oppressions, enjoy more freedom of opin- 
ion. In America the despotism of opinion is mighty. It is 
gradually growing less powerful, methinks ; still, it rules the 
the masses. It leads to the organization of fashion — to imita- 
tion — to a standard of judgment by which majorities govern 
minorities, the strong the weak, might is confounded with 
right, and the worst forms of tyranny and the best phases of 
liberty dwell side by side 'neath the shade of the nation's 
banner ; the symptoms of future alterations. 

What do you mean by an opinion ? 

By opinion, I do not mean anything which is demonstrable 
— such as the facts of history, the phenomena of science, or 
the principles of philosophy : these are susceptible of the most 
thorough demonstration. Opinion, on the contrary, is a vaga- 
bond, rambling about in the fields of perceptive logic — an il- 
legitimate child of the intellect — a sort of bastard, so to say, 

t 



88 QUESTIONS ON THE DESPOTISM OF OPINION. 

whose parentage can never be fully traced nor legally defined. 
Opinion, therefore, is derived from no well-ascertained fact, from 
no established principle. If it were thus derived, it would no long- 
er be opinion, but knowledge absolute, which precludes opinion. 

What is the origin, of an opinion ? 

Opinion is conceived and brought forth by such parents as 
inferences, deductions, presumptions, assumptions, guesses, mis- 
takes, misstatements, misunderstandings : these all are eggs, 
each the centre of a bantling opinion ; each the germ of pro- 
creative despotisms, brooded by little minds and time-serving 
institutions. Supernaturalism and metaphysical theories spring 
from conjecture — which, becoming an opinion, by general con- 
sent and not by understanding, attains to authority, and denies 
thenceforward the right of individual free discussion. 

What have you ascertained by investigation ? 

By investigation I have acquired this knowledge — that all 
theology is a despotic theory, an opinion ; and nothing more. 

Do you make any distinction between theology and some of the doctrines of 
Jesus 1 

Yes ; the doctrines of Jesus, concerning morality and spirit- 
ualism, are immutable truths. Theology, on the contrary, is 
not based upon Nature's facts and principles, but, as already 
said, upon inferences, presumptions, assumptions, which be- 
came despotic just like every other opinion. Knowledge has 
no slavery in it : opinion has no liberty. Opinion is the builder 
of dungeons ; the inventor and proprietor of torturing racks and 
rods of iron ; the grand Inquisitor who first kindles the martyr's 
fire, and then executes its terrible judgments. Such is the des- 
potism of opinion. Absolute knowledge, being inherently posi- 
tive, precludes all opinion ; for ever independent of mere belief. 
Of course, I mean such knowledge as that which the entire 
soul acquires by industry through its appropriate channels of 
consciousness ; that which, in the due process of integral 
growth, becometh Wisdom. And I repeat the affirmation that, 
church-theology is merely an opinion ; a subjective belief; des- 
titute of that knowledge which it arrogates to itself. 

Can you give evidence to strengthen this assertion ? 

Yes ; church-theology, for example, is believed by persons 



QUESTIONS ON THE DESPOTISM OP OPINION. 89 

who are-- in general quite ignorant of the extents of Nature ; 
its laws, its functions, its relations, its harmonies, are never 
perceived by the believer in a dismal theology. But the sec- 
tarian mind, " never taught to stray, far as the solar walk," 
studies geography perhaps, and sees this globe as the centre, 
the sun and moon and stars all as so many attendent super- 
numeraries, and special providences as a human necessity to 
salvation. Our earth the centre of creation ! a stationary orb, 
the largest, most important, about whose imperturbable majesty 
the entire heavens revolve ! And the earth's inhabitants, the 
chief of all Deific concern. 

Have we not outgrown this contracted idea ? 

Yes ; thank God ! the soaring soul of Science has overswept 
the limitations of Ignorance — the prolific source of old theol- 
ogy — and man's slowly but surely developing Knowledge has 
repressed the tides of the dead seas of error, and set bounds 
to the despotism of opinion. 

Where did the world get the idea that this globe was the centre of the uni- 
verse ? 

The world received it from the oriental tribes. Genesis 
teaches the paramount position, size, and importance of this 
earth ; the Sun, the Moon, the myriad Stars, these are subor- 
dinate and subservient. But the " Milky Way" was long since 
churned up by Astronomy, and divided into vast constellated 
groups, the magnitude of some of which is sufficient to fill to 
overflowing our entire planetary system — out-measuring the 
vast orbit of Neptune — swelling over and expanding away into 
the immense depths of space beyond ! 

Can you illustrate your idea of this planetary magnitude ? 

Yes ; "Alcyone," for illustration, is a name for one of the 
brightest stars in the Pleiades. Around this magnificent 
centre, our entire solar fraternity — the Sun, and its vast fam- 
ily of planets — travels swiftly, noiselessly, ceaselessly, with- 
out a moment's rest, without a moment's fatigue. And yet, like 
a living, breathing, harmonial Man, our planetary organization 
lays seemingly destitute of animation, near the centre of a wide 
spread bed of interlacing and inhabited stars. To the external 
sense he appears to be asleep, and dreaming, on the couch of 



90 QUESTIONS ON THE DESPOTISM OF OPINION. 

Infinitude. Notwithstanding which, (apparent inertia), our 
solar body journeys forward at the frightful velocity of four 
hundred thousand miles per day ; and yet, although its speed is 
so great, it requires eighteen millions and two hundred thousand 
years for our visible sun and its planetary dependencies to re- 
volve once round "Alcyone!" This primary is nearly one 
hundred and eighteen millions times greater in magnitude than 
our sun ; which again, as you well know, is many times larger 
than the earth, or any other related globe. Some stars are 
yet so distant, that thirty millions of years will sink into ob- 
livion, and infinite scores of human beings will live and die put 
of matter, ere their light can reach our globe ! And it will help 
your conception to remember that light can fly two hundred 
thousand miles per second. With this revelation of Nature 
before us, what shall we think of the oriental cosmological 
ideas — of the basis of the old but popular theology — Genesis, 
which maketh earth the centre of all creations, and the earth's 
inhabitants the source of infinite trouble to Deity ! 

Suppose a man should study astronomy and comprehend something of 
immensity, would he not, if discordant, still believe in the doctrines of the- 
ology ? 

Yes ; theology is of necessity believed by those who are 
constitutionally discordant — by those who feel evils within — 
who infer therefrom the existence of devils — and possess, as 
they think, internal evidence of total depravity. It is a curi- 
ous fact that the most vicious persons are the firmest believers 
in literal and future hell-punishments. Those who are enough 
unfortunate to be thieves, liars, highwaymen, pirates, slave- 
holders, and money-getting deacons, are fellow-believers and 
sometimes fellow-worshippers of the horrors and atrocious de- 
crees of popular theology. 

When does the mind lose such belief? 

When the mind is well-balanced — when the person becomes 
measurably self-harmonial and as much civilized in religious 
matters as in current politics and in the commonplaces of life 
— then, popular theology leaves it as naturally and rapidly as 
the beasts of the forest flee before the peaceful march of Hu- 
manity. 



QUESTIONS ON THE DESPOTISM OF OPINION. 91 

Is not a dismal theology natural to certain temperaments 1 

Yes ; Theology is naturally believed by those who have large 
organs of cautiousness, sccretiveness, and a morbid conscien- 
tiousness. These temperaments take judgment into custody. 
It is another curious fact, that old theology (as an opinion) never 
gets into the upper rooms of the mind. It goes far underneath 
— lurking about in the caves and dark retreats of the cerebel- 
lum — like a polar bear sometimes, and like a viper too, that 
keeps sequestered because knowing its place. 

Is there not much invidiousness in this assertion ? 

Far from it ; in making this assertion, I do not forget that 
popular theology receives support from many talented and con- 
scientious and benevolent men and women. But is it not 
worth remembering, that the most intelligent and courageous 
among its supporters, have been apologizers for the system ? 
Have they not all failed in justifying theology to the intellec- 
tual faculties of mankind ? Dr. Adam Clarke, for example, 
was under the necessity of writing an elaborate commentary 
on the Bible. 

Why did Dr. Clarke write his commentary ? 

He wrote it simply to offer an explanatory apology to hu- 
man nature for believing that which an intelligent and healthy 
Reason will eternally repudiate. 

What is a commentary ? 

A commentary is an attempt, in many cases, to defend and 
extenuate a matter which is deemed either impossible, ambigu- 
ous, contradictory, or improbable. Could you look into the be- 
ginning and inceptive causes of the various commentaries on the 
Bible, I know you would be astonished to find that each writer 
worked from a disagreeable personal necessity ; a method of 
allaying the positive protestations of the intellectual faculties 
and intuition. Dr. Beecher's recent scholastic work — "The 
Conflict of Ages" — is the most unsuccessful effort of a talented 
apologist ; to satisfy the demands of human reason ; to subdue 
the " conflict" between his own lower and higher faculties. 
The last fifty years are remarkable for apologistical sermons. 

Does not the presence of evil in the world convince many of old theology 1 

Yes ; theology, as an opinion, is entertained by scores of 



92 QUESTIONS ON THE DESPOTISM OF OPINION. 

honest minds, and because they can not understand the origin, 
the nature, and the cure of evil. (Such should read the Great 
Harraonia.) They consider evil to be absolute ; not relative 
and conditional. Many believe that evil results from violating 
the verbal commands of God ; not that evils and sins (so 
called) take their rise primarily from man's ignorance of his 
own nature, and the consequent abuse of it. 

How can philosophy help the world ? 

The Harmonial Philosophy will do this world a monumental 
service by explaining the nature and demonstrating the cure 
of evil — a work which theology can not do. Why not ? Be- 
cause theology is an opinion — based, as already seen, upon infer- 
ences, inductions, presumptions, &c, and not upon Knowledge, 
which has no fellowship with opinion or despotic fanaticisms. 

What other causes are there for believing theology ? 

Theology is believed by persons who, being victimized from 
childhood, now do homage at the shrine of popular and educa- 
tional religion ; which they would not continue to do, if they 
could see that all true religion is innate ; not educational — 
that all true life is from within, inbred and divine ; not ab- 
sorbed, as a sponge drinks water. 

Who profess to believe theology 1 

Theology is professedly believed by persons who worship at 
the shrine of policies, expediencies, compromise measures, 
shirks, &c. ; by persons who believe Principle to be very good 
in poetry and metaphysics — congenial to fanatical reformers 
and revolutionists — as I shall hereafter demonstrate. 

Would popular theology depart with the advent of correct knowledge 1 

Yes ; it is impossible for an intelligent person to believe the 
myths of ancient Egypt. 

What has been the experience of those who have sought for knowledge in the 
empire of Nature ? 

This question would require a careful compilation of the his- 
tory of science, and a chapter descriptive of theological oppo- 
sition to independent investigation. As this is a " delicate ques- 
tion," the reader will allow me to be silent for the next twenty 
minutes, giving time for the Weekly Pennsylvanian to answer: 
" We believe firmly, not only that the world is growing wiser, 



QUESTIONS ON THE DESPOTISM OF OPINION. 93 

but better also — and nothing has conduced to this desirable 
state of facts more than the accuracy and solidity of modern 
learning. The vague mists and superstitions which clouded 
the intellect of past ages, have, in a great degree, been dissi- 
pated, and men begin to reason for themselves, and the people 
are willing to be guided by what appears in accordance with 
the dictates of common sense. The instructors of youth, and 
the promulgators of the truths of science, are no longer afraid 
to follow the promptings of genius, by the terrors of a brutish 
public opinion, which once made whole nations fools or mad- 
men. 

" When the belief was universal of the immobility of the 
earth, Copernicus conceived the idea that the sun was the cen- 
tre of the system, and that the earth was a planet, like Mars 
and Yenus, and revolved round the sun. And yet this founder 
of a new system of astronomy was excommunicated from the 
Vatican, in 1543, for maintaining heretical doctrines, and the 
papal court never annulled the sentence till 1821. 

" When Galileo, his great follower in the cause of scientific 
truth, was thrown in the prison of the inquisition, in 1633, and 
was compelled to solemnly renounce on his knees, in the pres- 
ence of an assembly of ignorant monks, with his hand upon the 
Gospel, the glorious truths he had taught, and to declare that 
the earth stood still, as he arose from his humiliating position, 
he indignantly exclaimed, stamping his foot, 'And yet it 
moves.' For this he was again assigned to the dungeons for 
an indefinite period of time, and required to repeat every week, 
for three years, the seven penitential psalms of David. 

" But the Copernican system is now established, and has 
thus recommended itself to the scientific world through tribu- 
lation. That Tycho, Kepler, the Herschels, and Newton, 
were permitted to enunciate the result of their labors in peace, 
may be attributed to other causes, and in spite of the natural 
and universal perversity to sustain error. 

" Galileo and Socrates are examples of the sacrifices men 
have sometimes made for the advancement of truth, under ad- 
verse circumstances, and against the preconceived ideas, preju- 
dices, and superstitions of ignorant ages. Columbus, Fulton, 



94 QUESTIONS ON THE DESPOTISM OF OPINION. 

and Franklin, were all opposed, each in his particular path of 
discovery, by the public sentiment by which they were sur- 
rounded, and nothing but their actual and unequalled triumphs 
saved them the reputation of being fit subjects for an insane 
asylum. 

" How much does the world owe to Leinnitz, Leverrier, Lam- 
bert, Michael Angelo, Delambre, Descartes, and Galvani, for 
their painful and laborious mathematical calculations, compo- 
sition of forces, and great analysis. Blot their discoveries 
from existence, and all becomes dark, chaotic, and given to un- 
certainty. 

" It was fashionable twenty years ago to deny that the earth 
was more than six thousand years old, but the geological re- 
searches of Dr. Buckland, Professor Silliman, Dr. John Pye 
Smith, Mr. Lyell, President Hitchcock, and others, have proven 
by incontrovertible facts that it must have existed for many hun- 
dreds of thousands of years. And yet so far from these inves- 
tigations leading to atheism, they lead to a true knowledge of 
nature. Those who contend for the limited existence stand on 
the very verge of denying indirectly the existence of a divine 
power, and uproot the whole system of natural theology. The 
supposition of Chateaubriand, that the earth was erected just 
as it is, with its millions of fossil-shells imbedded in the rocks, 
would overturn all the foundations of Dr. Paley's theory, and 
lead to the rankest skepticism. If the mountains hoary with 
age do not give evidence of their volcanic fires for many cen- 
turies — if the bones of fishes with their fins were not intended 
for motion — if the eyes of the fossil insects were not intended 
— then the most admirable adaptations of the animal economy 
do not show design or point with unerring certainty to the 
great Architect and Designer. 

" Yet how often do the discoveries of true science pass un- 
recompensed, while the various systems of stultifying humbug- 
gery meet with favor the eye and ear of the public. William 
Harvey, who discovered the circulation of the blood, met with 
detraction and persecution that destroyed his practice and re- 
duced him to poverty, while the inventors of " cough lozenges," 
"flumex bitters," "liver pills," &c, roll in wealth, and dress 



QUESTIONS ON THE DESPOTISM OF OPINION. 95 

in purple and fine linen. Before the time of Francis I., in the 
early part of the sixteenth century, the surgeons stanched the 
blood, when a limb was amputated, by the application of boil- 
ing pitch to the surface of the stump. Ambrose Bare, the prin- 
cipal surgeon to that king, introduced the ligature. A clamor 
was raised, and this experienced surgeon was hooted and 
howled down by the faculty of physic, who ridiculed the idea 
of " hanging human life upon a thread," when boiling pitch 
had stood the test for centuries. 

"When Paracelcus, of Switzerland, introduced the employ- 
ment of antimony as a medicine at the instigation of the Medi- 
cal College, the French parliament voted it a crime, and passed 
an act making it a penal offence to administer it for any disease. 

" The Jesuits introduced into Europe the Peruvian bark, and 
in England they at once rejected the drug as an invention of 
the father of lies. Frederick the Great took it in spite of the 
remonstrances of his physicians, and was soon restored to 
health. 

"In 1792, Dr. Groerevett discovered the curative power of 
the Spanish fly in dropsy, but no sooner did his cures begin to 
be noised abroad than he was at once committed to Newgate, 
by warrant of the president of the college of physicians, for 
prescribing cantharides internally. 

"Lady Mary Montague, who had spent some time in Turkey, 
first introduced inoculation for the small-pox into England, 
as she had witnessed its happy effects during her foreign resi- 
dence. She tried the experiment upon her own children, and 
the common people were taught to hoot at her as an unnatural 
mother, who had risked the lives of her own offspring. The 
faculty rose in arms, foretelling failure and the most disastrous 
consequences, and the clergy descanted from their pulpits on 
the impiety of thus seeking to take events out of the hands of 
Providence. She protested that in the four or five years after 
her arrival home, she seldom passed a day without repenting 
of her patriotic undertaking, and she vowed she never would 
have attempted it, had she foreseen the vexation and persecu- 
tion it brought upon her. 

" Almost the same fate for a time overtook Dr. Jenner, who 



96 QUESTIONS ON THE DESPOTISM OF OPINION. 

discovered the uses of vaccination. The Royal College of 
Physicians received his discovery with ridicule and contempt. 
Even religion and the Bible were made engines of attack 
against him. Erham, of Frankfort, gravely attempted by quo- 
tations from the prophetical parts of the Scriptures and the 
writings of the fathers of the Church, to prove that vaccination 
was the real Antichrist. 

" Such have been a few of the results of ignorance, preju- 
dice, and intolerance. It is to be hoped that with the common 
school, the academy, and college, the powers of a free press, 
the scientific lecture-room, the general dissemination of sub- 
stantial knowledge, that such a foothold has been obtained 
against the flood-tides of bigotry, intolerance, and ignorance, 
that their dark waves will be rolling back upon themselves, no 
longer to disturb the placid surface of an elevating and enno- 
bling 1 humanity. We hope that with correct knowledge, every 
day becoming more and more diffused with the invention of useful 
labor-saving machines, the power of the loom and the anvil, the 
steam-engine and electric telegraph, the day will soon dawn, 
that it has already come, when fudge and nonsense will no 
longer be tolerated, but that man everywhere and on all occa- 
sions shall deal in facts, not in fancy, shall state truths and not 
wild vagaries hatched amid the incubations of dark ages to 
spread abroad and plague the world. We hope this practical, 
sensible era has arrived, and we believe that with such views 
the world will make more progress the next century than it 
has done in any five centuries heretofore in the struggles of an 
impeded civilization. Welcome an age of common sense, of 
correct views, of useful knowledge, the more useful because the 
more true." 

Plow shall knowledge be made to take the authority of opinion in churches ? 

Knowledge can be made to supersede opinion, in modern 
churches, by calling a " convention of creeds" and publishing 
the results of such a convocation to the world. That is to say, 
let us have a senate of Christian and of anti-Christian leaders ; 
a full representation of each system. Each creed has some 
truth in it, some fragment of a principle, which its rival has 
not. 



QUESTIONS ON THE DESPOTISM OF OPINION. 97 

Who could be excluded from such a Convention ? 

Hear the Echo ! " Who could be excluded from such con- 
vention ?" Who denied a seat in this senate ? Who could be 
voted intruders — who, for opinion's sake prohibited ? 

Who could be ostracized — could Fenclon 1 

" Could Fenclon ?" — with his sovereign conviction that holy 
works and charity evidence forth the soul's regeneration ? 

Who could be voted alien — could Luther 1 

" Could Luther ?" — with his doctrine of justification by faith; 
the inspiring element and conservative principle of character ? 

Who could be shut out — could St. Augustine ? 

" Could St. Augustine ?" — notwithstanding his dismal idea 
of the blighted majesty of all human nature ? 

Who could be repudiated — could Calvin ? 

"Could Calvin?" — with his logical platitudes concerning 
foreknowledge, free will, necessity, and the unprogressive, un- 
expansive, fallen nature of man ? 

Could any one be passed over — could Channing ? 

"Could Channing?" — with his belief in man's boundless 
capabilities and endless growth ? 

Could a doubter be omitted — could Hume ? 

" Could Hume ?" — with his doctrine of experience as the 
test of truth ? 

Could any be voted heretical — could Wesley? 

"Could Wesley?" — with his ruling idea of a Missionary 
Work? 

Could a friend be prohibited — could George Fox ? 

" Could George Fox ?" — with his doctrine that the unerring 
spirit of God is a guest of every regenerate bosom ? 

Could a critic be discountenanced — could Voltaire ? 

" Could Voltaire ?" — with his belief that what men term 
truth is always two thirds fable ? 

Could any seer be proscribed — could Swedenborg ? 

" Could Swedenborg ?" — with his impression that the outer 
universe is but the drapery and imagery of a spiritual ex- 
istence ? 

Could any liberalist be excluded — could Thomas Paine ? 

" Could Thomas Paine ?" — with his conviction that Reason 

7 



98 QUESTIONS ON THE DESPOTISM OF OPINION. 

is the only reliable Revelation, and a sufficient rule of faith 
and practice ? 

Could any person be tabooed — could John Murray ? 

" Could John Murray ?" — with his belief in the final holi- 
ness and happiness of all mankind, and the restitution of all 
things ? 

Could any woman be repulsed — could Ann Lee ? 

" Could Ann Lee ?" — with her doctrine of the difference be- 
tween the Jewish and Gentile Christian church, of the carnal- 
ity of outer marriage, and of perpetual inspiration ? 

Could any pi-ofessedly honest person be shut out — could Joseph Smith 1 

" Could Joseph Smith ?" — with his doctrine of a new Jeru- 
salem, in the form of a Mormon organization ? 

Could any leading mind, in America or across the Atlantic, be denied a 
representation in this senate of creeds 1 

Echo still responds : " Could any be denied ?" Nay ; for these 
leaders, or their followers rather, are unable to form true esti- 
mates of each other. Each system, having obtained and bodied 
forth some truth, and knowing little or nothing of its neighbor, 
arrogates infallibility for its declarations. Opinion becomes 
law. Each sets desperately and spitefully upon the other. 
Instead of rejoicing and being happy in each other's earnest- 
ness and eloquence and efforts for man, and playing fraternally 
into each other's hands, the sects stoutly refuse hospitality and 
acquaintance, and strive to force one creed upon all mankind 
as the sum of truth in religion. They separate themselves into 
bigoted organizations — exhibiting folly and wickedness, pas- 
sion and imbecility — and thus defeat the good which the best 
believers have in view. 

What may be said of priests and churches 1 

Priests and churches, without knowing it, have deserted the 
path of truth. The dignity of an everlasting principle has 
been given to opinions ; and the dismal opinions of theology 
tend to debase the mind, and plunge men into despondency. 

Is priestly influence against human unity 1 

Yes ; priests have separated themselves from others, in 
humbler social positions ; and have made men suspicious of 
each other. 



QUESTIONS ON THE DESPOTISM OF OPINION. 99 

What is the theology of priests ? 

Their theology is a compound of love and hate, of heaven 
and hell, of rewards and punishments ; and its teachers, all 
unconscious to themselves, breathe the spirit of hate and human 
differences, even while their theme is " love." Thus they di- 
vide men, and sacrifice the interests of individuals upon the 
"blood-stained altars of sects and priesthoods. They are no 
friends to free thought, to free speech, to free action. They 
fear the human heart ; they would vilify and set bounds to its 
God-ordained attractions. Opinion teaches the corruptions of 
reason ; and the treacherousness of its best dictations. Opin- 
ion teaches the superiority of past traditions to present truths. 
And priests would have Geology retain her secrets, and Astron 
omy withhold her starlight, rather than see discredit thrown 
upon modern creeds which rest upon ancient chronicles. 

Suppose we leave creeds and churches, what shall we do ? 

We are free to communicate with the divine revelations of 
our Mother-Nature. Her sweet melodious voices are ever- 
cheering ; her revelations ever-welcome to her children. She 
invites them to worship in the cathedral of immensity. Her 
ministers are the expanded earth, the unfolded heavens, the 
stars above, the spheres that swell out into the depths beyond, 
and all the myriad hosts who live and love upon them. The 
unalterable universe, both positive and negative — material 
and spiritual, is your Sacred Book ! This is the word of 
Father-God — containing his promises, his purposes, his prin- 
ciples — superior to steam-presses, to the despotism of Opinion! 
A proper study of its pages, so beautifully embellished by 
angel-hands, expands the genius of wisdom — making men ac- 
tive; courageous, harmonial, Beautiful. It tells man to be 
honest and sociable, to be reasonable and peaceable, to be just 
and fear not. The immutable Laws of this Book are our rules 
of life ; and perfect obedience to them is our virtue and our 
religion. 

What position do we now occupy, as practical denizens of the globe ? 

We occupy a transition place ; our feet press the planks of 
that temporary bridge which connects the past with the future ; 
midway between the inferior and the better era ; with much of 



100 QUESTIONS ON THE DESPOTISM OF OPINION. 

both, with neither practically. While the sun of pure wisdom, 
just rising over the brow of the Better Day, sheddeth its 
delightful rays upon the topmost minds on earth, the darkness 
of popular Theology — seen by them to be a despotic opinion 
without knowledge — appeareth all the more hideous and re- 
pugnant. The valleys of human life — the archives and alcoves 
of existing Doctrines — appear more and yet more uncon- 
genial; a repugnance which increaseth sevenfold, as we con- 
tinue to ascend the Alpine heights of the pure impersonal Rea- 
son. The light of the future maketh the night of the past 
darker ; while our opponents, the comfortably-housed and the 
mythic-valley people, see nothing of this and have no such re- 
alizations. Gladly, we turn our steps from darkness — gladly, 
we look forward — away, up the hill to the City of the living 
G-od ! The Past ? that has worshipped imaginary beings ; the 
Future ? that will work for Humanity ! 



QUESTIONS ON THE MARTYRDOM OF JESUS, 



The ponderous cavalcade of solar bodies along the milky- 
way is not more majestically grand than the unbroken march 
of human ages up the path of Time. I have been listening to 
the Past. It is vocal with sounds innumerable ; with sounds 
of glad thanksgiving ; and songs, also, of lamentations and 
spiritual distress. 

The tides of life, setting their omnipotent currents through 
human affairs, have wafted the wrecks of different nations, dif- 
ferent systems of government, and different religions — each 
bearing the mark of some chief, monarch, or martyr. Rever- 
berating through the moss-clad dome of distant ages is heard 
the sad song of expiring heroes — the dying sobs of the fire- 
dressed martyr — triumphing over wrath and hatred and every 
trial, with a god-like might, seemingly defeated, but unfailingly 
victorious. Amid the gathering clouds of smoke, and through 
the folds of tempestial fire, the martyr sees angel faces full 
of joy ! 

"What are the characteristics of a true martyr ? 

A true martyr is one who bravely meets terrors and tortures, 
imposed by many and strong enemies, rather than relinquish or 
disavow a cherished conviction ; one who, with a moral enthu- 
siasm transcending the instinct of self-preservation and every 
selfish motive, fearlessly embraces death in its most terrific 
form, in order to bear faithful witness to the sovereignty of 
some divine principle. 



102 QUESTIONS ON THE MARTYRDOM OF JESUS. 

Where shall we look for the world's true martyrs 1 

Open the history of Asia, the history of Europe, the history 
of America ; and behold the martyrdom of the great and good. 
'Neath earth's flowery bosom lie the smouldering ruins of name- 
less men and women-— who have made personal resistance to 
crime and to tyrants — 

" Where do they sleep 1 the fearless and the true, 
Whose holy deeds around their pathway threw 

A glorious light — 
A light which, streaming o'er the mists of time, 
Illumines every age and every clime 
With radiance bright." 

Is it not natural to revere the birthplace of Jesus 1 

The Christian's sensitive reverence for Palestine, the native 
land of his Savior, is both natural and beautiful. The ele- 
ments and aspirations of patriotism, of poetry, of pathos, of 
prayer, of perfection — yea, all the tender sentiments of filial 
love, all the sacred prejudices and imaginations concerning re- 
ligion, all the painful struggles of time and the awful mysteries 
of eternity — come forth at the magic touch of this strange, 
eventful history. The lone star of Bethlehem, to the poetic 
believer, hath the effulgence of a thousand suns. The Sowings 
of the sacred waters, over the bright sands and along the pur- 
ple shores of the Holy Land, seem like the golden sounds 
which fed the silent air of Eden. Gently descend the dews of 
Herman. The widow's overladen heart findeth rest beneath 
the welcoming shade of the Cedars of Lebanon. The winds of 
the sea of Galilee steal with dreamlike stillness over the fertile 
plains, of Judea. To the banks of the baptismal river the 
Christian goes for contemplation. It sings a song to him 
whose " raiment was of camel's hair." And it breathes bles- 
sings upon him who " came from Galilee to be baptized." Its 
music leaves her soul upon his heart. " He casts a wishful eye 
to Canaan's fair and happy land" — and yearningly, looks for- 
ward with faith and hope to the place " where the wicked 
cease from troubling." No ! I do not wonder that Palestine 
is a u Holy Land" to him who entirely believes, that one of its 
rural barns was the palace which shut from vulgar eyes the 
birth of a heaven-descended Prince — that one of its uncarved 



QUESTIONS ON THE MARTYRDOM OP JESUS. 103 

and uncushioned mangers cradled the Eternal Savior of the 
World — whose feet had pressed the soil; whose sympathetic 
tears had watered it ; whose breath, freighted with words of 
comfort for the friendless sons of men, had mingled with the 
air; and whose hand had written in the sand, "Let the sin- 
less man cast the first stone." 

What does history relate on this subject ? 

Sacred history relates that, in twilight's pensive hour, a 
young man sought the wilderness. Retiring winds waved 
the dreary depths, and music made of melancholy sort. He 
had travelled in Egypt ; lived there till the death of Herod. 
Golden domes of pride, sacred temples of error, and towers of 
war, he had seen ; had met and mingled with the world. But 
the spirit of God moved within. And the angels, lifting their 
voices o'er the wild uproar of the wilderness, bade him " On- 
ward." With pathos true and touching, the voices of Mother- 
Nature spake to his weary soul. Anon, the heavens opened : 
and he " saw a spirit from Father-God descending like a dove." 
Then a voice said : " This is my beloved Son, in whom I am 
weirpleased." 

What may be said of the Jews in this connection 1 

The Jews were the most imbecile worshippers of Force, and 
knew not the Father. They were worshipping the imagi- 
nary God of the patriarchs and prophets ; not the unfailing 
Source of the spirits of all men. They studied a creed ; not 
the volume of creation. The Jews were the best and the worst 
of men : virtuous and vicious, witty, serious, and sometimes gay ; 
learned in many arts, generous and brave at times ; invariably 
hypocritical and avaricious, equally infidelic and faithful, mete- 
rialistic and spiritual. 

" The Jews must be taught the way, the truth, and the life," 
said the young man, . . . and, after forty days of interior prep- 
aration, he went forth to teach. 

According to Bible history, who heard him gladly ? 

The poor heard him gladly ; mainly, because he was born 
of the humblest among them ; and advocated their cause. He 
opened his mouth and taught the multitude; and he healed 
many that were sick. He did this without reading from the 



104 QUESTIONS ON THE MARTYRDOM OF JESUS. 

then popular bible, or using remedies from the then orthodox 
drug-store. 

What followed this repudiation of the then popular authorities ? 

The physicians and lawyers and clergymen of the times rea- 
soned against his claims ; they doubted his power of discern- 
ing spirits ; and openly ridiculed his psycho-magnetic miracles. 
Some of his own converts traduced and deserted him. And 
they had him arrested on a charge of heresy to the Jewish 
church, and conspiracy against the Roman government. They 
tried him without justice ; and crucified him without mercy. 
What a great martyrdom ! What a faithful witness did he 
bear to the Father-God who inspired him ; a martyr to his 
spiritual principles ! 

According to recent discoveries in psychical science, how would you explain 
the birth of Jesus ? 

Matter is the servant of mind. Nothing is more obvious than 
the sympathetic alliance of these two eternal principles. Mind 
is the moving Principle : matter is the Principle which is 
'moved. And it is well established that the productive mind 
influences and moulds the body and soul before as well as after 
birth. History is brimful of examples, and settles the doctrine 
as true, that the unborn child is psychologized by the maternal 
spirit. (See 3d vol. of Great Harmonia.) 

Can you not give examples of maternal psychology ? 

Yes ; there are many examples. Five months before the 
birth of Caligula, the Roman emperor, his mother dreamed 
that a supernatural being brought from the sky and gave her 
an eagle, which changed slowly into a venomous serpent, and 
was stoned to death by the multitude. The angel said : " The 
eagle is power ; the serpent is tyranny ; the last is assassina- 
tion." Justified by her imagination only, she insisted that the 
history of her unborn child had been symboled forth. This 
terrible impression acted like a charm upon the coming spirit ; 
and, lo, the^ife and death of Caligula was an exact fulfilment 
of his mother's dream. 

What happened to the mother of Nero ? 

In a dream the mother of Nero saw a dove descend, holding 
in its mouth a scorpion which was dropped upon her bosom, 



QUESTIONS ON THE MARTYRDOM OF JESUS. 105 

and presently stung itself to death. A few weeks prior to the 
birth of her son, this dream was repeated. She said it deno- 
ted peace, first ; next, persecution; the last, suicide. And the 
history of Nero was an exact correspondence. 

Had the mother of Moses such experience ? 

Yes ; while in the house of Levi, a young woman had an im- 
pressive dream in which she beheld a beautiful damsel, leaning 
over the river's brink, with her sweet face beaming compas- 
sionately upon the form of an innocent child. Presently this 
child became a great man ; and his might was felt in all the 
earth. An angel now descended from a high mountain, and 

said : " Behold ! so shall it be with thy son." Not long 

after this dream, the woman became the bride of a distant 
kinsman. And twice before the birth of her first child, the 
same dream was impressed upon her ; and the same angel ap- 
peared, with the same message. Of course the psychological 
effect was complete. Her son's name was " Moses." 

Can you mention an example less remote ? 

Yes ; a woman of considerable physical courage mounted a 
horse, rode side by side with her soldier-husband, and witnessed 
the drilling of the troops for battle. The exciting music and 
scene together inspired her with a deep thirst to behold a war 
and a conquest. This event transpired a few months before 
the birth of her child, whose name was — " Napoleon !" 

Relate the history of psychological effect wrought upon the spirit of Dante's 
Mother 1 

During the important period immediately preceding the 
birth of Dante, his young mother saw a vision of startling 
grandeur and great depth of significance. She beheld a pop- 
ulated globe, of symmetrical proportions, rise gradually out 
of the sea, and float midheavens. It was decorated with every 
conceivable element of natural and artificial beauty. Upon a 
high and grand mountain, which melted away into the distant 
horizon and sloped gracefully into lands and lakes that spread 
out to the left, stood a man with a brilliant countenance, 
whom she knew to be her son. Pointing with his upraised 
hand, he bade her look down to the right of the mountain. 
She beheld a precipice of abrupt descent ; like the wall of an 



106 QUESTIONS ON THE MAETYEDOM OF JESUS. 

immeasurable gulf, with depth, unknown. Whereupon she 
thought she faiuted with excess of fright. But her son was 
serene as a morning star ; and, looking again, she saw no evil. 
After this beautiful and thrilling vision, Dante's mother had 
only in view the greatness of her unborn child — whose genius 
as a scholar and poet, as the creator of a world of fancies, is 
known throughout all the lands of civilization. 

Are there other illustrations of the marvellous effects of mind upon the 
unborn child ? 

In further illustration, I might refer to hundreds of similar 
cases among poets, painters, musicians, mathematicians, and 
religious chieftains. One more instance, however, will suffice : 
to demonstrate the mysterious influence of mind upon matter ; 
and more particularly, to prove the predisposing effect which 
a mother's spiritual convictions exert upon her coming off- 
spring. The wife of a very poor, but respectable, mechanic 
dreamed several times, before the birth of her child, that an 
angel came to her and said : " Hail ! thou art highly favored 
— the Lord is with thee." The angel looked lovingly down 
upon her ; and she, not comprehending the intent of his mes- 
sage, was troubled. But the spiritual visiter soon allayed her 
anxiety, by saying: "Fear not — thou shalt bring forth a son, 
and thou shalt call his name Jesus .... he shall be called the 
son of the Highest .... he shall reign over the house of Da- 
vid for ever .... and of his kingdom there shall be no end." 
In due course of time this woman's impressible imagination was 
operating, with full belief, expecting the literal fulfilment of 
her vision. The result was accurately daguerreotyped upon 
the spirit of her unborn babe. And this person lived and died 
on the scene of history, as if his whole soul — impelled by 
some supernatural predisposition — was struggling to fill the 
sublime and immense measure of his mother's dream ! 

What is there so wonderful in a name ? 

" Jesus" is the Greek for the Hebrew word " Joshua ;" and the 
term " Savior" is the English rendering. The word " Christ" 
was annexed to distinguish him from many others bearing the 
first name. " Messiah" is the Hebrew for the Greek word 
< ; Christ ;" and the term " Anointed" is the English translation. 



QUESTIONS ON THE MARTYRDOM OF JESUS. 107 

The Jews called every political or religious Chieftain the 
Lord's anointed — because their doetrine was theocratic — thus, 
Saul and David and Solomon were considered the especial 
Agents of God ; and Isaiah calls Cyrus " the Lord's anointed 1 ' 
which is the same as the word Christ, or Messiah. " Christ" is 
a term which literally signifies a divinely-commissioned Agent 
or diplomatized Physician. It would be perfectly correct, 
therefore, to say — "Joshua, the physician," to designate him 
among the inhabitants of Palestine ; or, still more literal, 
" Doctor Joshua, the martyr of Calvary" — thus giving to this 
spiritual Essenian a just and sufficiently conspicuous position 
among the world's great martyrdoms. 

What can we be certain, of in his early history ? 

Aside from the penetrations of clairvoyance, and without 
the testimony of spirits in daily correspondence with men, 
there is nothing known of Joshua's childhood and youth. 

What did the early philosophers say 1 

Very little ; nothing reliable. Celsus, an Epicurean philos- 
opher of the second century, testifies that Jesus (or Joshua) 
spent several of his childish and youthful years in one of the 
most densely-populated spots of Egypt ; that while there, he 
acquired considerable intelligence — and learned the art of 
healing by mysterious words and manipulation ; and that, after 
returning to Palestine, he assumed a special mission, and pro- 
fessed to hold an incomprehensible correspondence with the 
Father of spirits. But Origen, a primitive Christian father, 
regarded Celsus as a heretic, and answered him accordingly. 

What may be said concerning his reputation ? 

The wilderness of Judea echoed to the herald-notes of good 
honest John. He sowed the seed in Palestine ; but expected 
to reap on the other side of Jordan. Joshua seemed to have had 
no understanding that he was the person referred to — and so, 
being of a religious cast of character, went like any other con- 
verted spirit " unto John to be baptized." But John " forbade 
him," and said — " I have need to be baptized of thee." Here, 
doubtless, Joshua felt the hidden voice of his mother's dream ; 
and, with a beautiful grace which became his earnest soul, he 
baptized the prophet. And forthwith his friends had, as they 



108 QUESTIONS ON THE MARTYRDOM OF JESUS. 

supposed, reason to expect great words and greater deeds. 
His fame " went throughout all Syria ;" because he had cured 
many sick. 

Shall we say that this reputation became a misfortune 1 

We love to have miracles wrought for the single glorious 
purpose of benefiting suffering humanity. And we love to 
contemplate Joshua in this unselfish work ; a motive which 
alone actuated his first efforts. After a while, however, we 
behold him working, so to speak, for his reputation. " That 
ye may know," he says (Matt. ix. 6), " that the son of man 
hath power on earth to forgive sins" — then he healed the sick 
of the palsy ! His miracles, instead of serving the good of 
the suffering merely, were appealed to by him and others as 
proof positive of his divine co mm ission. (See John x. 37 ; 
xi. 15 ; xv. 2, &c.) 

Jesus had extraordinary power ; was that power limited ? 

" Command these stones to become bread," said the spir- 
itual skeptics. Did he give them a sign ? The populace did 
not believe in physical manifestations. They required evi- 
dence. " If thou be king of the Jews, save thyself." He was 
nailed to the cross, and had the reputation of being both a me- 
dium and a god. But could he draw a nail ? Could he de- 
scend from the cross by any supernatural means ? If so, why 
not? All that the people asked for was — "evidence." 
Strange history ! a table never moved, a chair never trem- 
bled, water never became wine, when the skeptics asked for 
a manifestation. No ! but the wonders were wrought when 
the Professor Faradays, and the President Mahans, and the 
savans, of those days — were not prepared to detect the methods 
of deception. Joshua was said to be almighty. Yet the suc- 
cess of his might was conditional. " He did not many won- 
derful works, because of their unbelief." We marvel that 
man could limit thus the ways of God. Upon rational laws, 
however, all is quickly explained. 

Is truth aided when we confound persons with principles ? 

Nothing is more unfortunate. The universal deification of 
local persons, and the consequent co-extensive obscuration of 
general Principles, is a familiar phenomenon in the religious 



QUESTIONS ON THE MARTYRDOM OF JESUS. 109 

world. Perhaps it should be described and deplored as a rep- 
tilian error, gnawing perpetually at the heart of man's native 
religion — as an invidious serpent crawling about in the garden 
of his soul, ever tempting the higher sentiments to substitute 
persons for principles — inducing the spirit to worship empty 
creeds and godless ceremonies, as if these were the summum 
bonum of all saving righteousness. 

Should we hold Jesus responsible for the short-comings and mistakes of his 
professed followers 1 

No true harmonial philosopher, no rational modern spiritu- 
alist, will ever hold Jesus responsible for the innumerable ab- 
surdities of many who claim him as " Master." The holy 
principles of that spiritual religion which was patented by the 
bench of Bishops under Constantine and labelled " Christian" 
by later and lesser authorities, would be transcendentally efful- 
gent and magnetically attractive, could it be but safely ex- 
humed from the popular cemetery of ghostly creeds. Well- 
meaning clergymen there are in abundance who walk through 
the streets of their profession, with step attuned to mournful 
measure, dressed in garments of grief, a cloud enveloping each 
face, as if unexpectedly bereft of some world-wide benefactor. 
Alas ! it is too true. They have destroyed their best friend. 
It is the departure of Nature's own religion. The Christ- 
principle of universal Love* has been sepulchred beneath a 
solemn outward hero-worship of the Martyr of Calvary. 

"All hail the power of Jesus' name, 
Let angels prostrate fall ; 
Bring forth the royal diadem, 
And crown Mm lord of all \" 

Time hath been when my spirit marvelled at the extravagance 
of this " obituary notice," at this ghostly procession of priest 
and parish — but I was but a child then, and saw delight, as 
many still do, in things of show and circumstance. Now I 
half sympathize with these mourners, and I half call them to 
repentance. The system and forms of religion T term super- 
naturalism. On the first day of each week, according to the 

* The reader is referred to more ample explanations, of Jesus and the Christ- 
principle, in subsequent pages. 



110 QUESTIONS ON THE MARTYRDOM OF JESUS. 

most approved almanac, our evangelical clergy visit the ceme- 
tery of supernaturalism — the system and ceremonies of reli- 
gion ! This " churchyard" hath a sorrowful history. The 
fearful tempests of eighteen centuries have passed over it. 
'Creedal strifes and sectarian storms, that have rolled down 
these grim and gory ages with the terrible strength of a thou- 
sand cataracts, have swept day and night through the sepul- 
chral caverns of this deadly place ; and the vampyrean voices 
of terrors and tortures and miseries dark that have cursed and 
crushed humanity — all mingle their sobs with the hideous bel- 
lowing of Romish Bulls, with the deep hollow barking of prot- 
estant Dogmas, with the sickly mewing of the Westminster 
Shorter Catechism. Every sabbath the clergy visit this ceme- 
tery, and, aided by such as feel disposed, mourn o'er the moss- 
covered grave of Nature's own religion. 

What is the ceremony which is attached to this burial 1 

The burial ceremony, which is modified more or less by each 
sect, consists — first, in singing "Hark from the tombs" — sec- 
ond, an invocation to an unknown god — third, reading through 
and remarking upon " the Northwest passage" of some hand- 
somely-bound book — fourth, preaching a funeral discourse with 
the ghost of an old idea for a text — fifth, another song of sad- 
ness and supplication — sixth, a benediction, with a promise to 
meet next Sunday and rehearse the drama of burying " Christ 
in creeds," or absolute religion in its fashionable surroundings. 
Practical and undefiled religion once consisted in a well-or- 
dered life of universal good will — but consists now in believing 
the creed, in adhering to the form, in being popular, and reject- 
ing the doctrine of progressive development. 

What is the consequence of the deification of persons 1 

All inequality is productive of discord : all over-statement 
is injustice ; and the deification of persons is a " spot on the 
sun" of righteousness. Every exaggeration of supposed gods, 
every over-statement of the wisdom of spirits, is followed by a 
corresponding diminution of mankind. 

Can you explain your idea more at length ? 

If you take from man's character to enrich the character of 
the gods (of spirits or angels), the penalty is heaviest with 



QUESTIONS ON THE MARTYRDOM OF JESUS. Ill 

man : for man, not gods, needs elevation. You dress your 
gods and saints in richest robes ; while on your own person 
hang innumerable rags and tatters ! If I were to tell you the 
exact reason why we see so few noble men and noble women 
among Christians — so little individual integrity and self-sus- 
tained intelligence — I should say, in the main, that the people 
have allowed themselves to be led captive by unspiritual teach- 
ers : have, in short, put their souls upon a gilded waiter, and, 
with bended knee and unreasoning reverence, presented them 
to the gods of tradition and the times. In truth, the Chris- 
tian world has given so much intellectual wealth toward main- 
taining in poetic elegance the celestial aristocracy — toward 
praising and extolling the virtues and qualifications of the 
godheads — that, now, the people have not enough vene- 
ration for human heads remaining to commence even a re- 
spectable retail business in the line of practical individual 
Religion ! 

How shall we apply this in justice to martyrs ? 

By magnifying the trials and sufferings of Joshua — who 
wrought but thirty-six months for humanity — we take away 
our sympathy from those who need (if they do not deserve) it 
more a thousand-fold. 

Besides Joshua, are there not other martyrs 1 

The body of Joshua could not suffer more tha,n those by his 
side ; and his soul, being lifted by the consciousness of self-sac- 
rifice to a principle, must have suffered less. There is such joy 
in right-doing ! Shall we not think of Stephen, Peter, Paul ; 
of the martyrs of Italy, Spain, Portugal ; of the victims to the 
French revolution. The manly martyrs to science — Galileo, 
Tycho Brahe, Copernicus, Kepler — of the inventor, rapt in 
the idea of " Eureka," insensible to poverty and disease which 
set upon him like wolves upon their prey — shall we not think 
of these with justice ? 

Are there different phases of martyrdom 1 

Yes; there are others still — the artist, the musician, the 
needlewoman, the orphan, the deformed, the insane ! What 
living martyrs, these ! Open the history of individuals, and be- 
hold the martyrs to envy, to jealousy, to misunderstanding, to 



112 QUESTIONS ON THE MARTYRDOM OF JESUS. 

a bad temper, to a bad marriage, to wrongs unwritten, to evils 
not yet revealed ! This spiritual martyrdom is not compara- 
ble with physical crucifixion. Many there are who carry about 
with them an inveterate foe to private peace and to public use- 
fulness — some hateful habit or poisonous propensity — pursu- 
ing their conscience day and night : a perpetual martyrdom 
from which they may not escape. Such nail themselves to the 
cross, give up the ghost many times a year, and sweat great 
drops of agony when alone ! These are self-crucified — upon 
whom good angels look, with tearful eyes and saving sympa- 
thies ! 

What is martyrdom usually a result of? 

Martyrdom is the result of an individual protest against crime 
— of personal rebuke to ages of wrongs and mistakes; the 
forcible crucifixion of one imbued with the conviction that 
" resistance to Tyrants is obedience to God." Yiewed in the 
light of an individual protest, to a religion of forms and a 
government of policies, the crucifixion of the Son of Joseph 
and Mary is a glorious example of spiritual supremacy. Des- 
potic opinion drives in the earth a stake of iron, Ignorance 
chains a reformer to it, Prejudice brings the fagots, Fanati- 
cism kindles the flame, the State smiles approvingly, the Church 
makes a prayer, and the shell of an immortal being is burned 
to ashes ! Poor disciples of Ignorance ! little do they think 
that the martyr's pile is " a chariot of fire" on which his soul 
rides into the kingdom of heaven ! The Reformer's grosser 
form, his spirit's coverings, may be dissolved in the flame ; but 
the Thought — the idea, the principle, for which he died — that 
lives after him. Nature hath ordained that children shall reap 
the harvest of error-seeds sown by their forefathers ; and learn 
thus, perforce of a consequent necessity, to till and plant and 
eat with truth. 

Can you illustrate this law of justice in Nature ? 

Yes ; I can let you into the idea by means of a parable. A 
mythical tradition relates that the earth was once inhabited 
only by twelve valiant and ambitious knights ; at a period 
when there was neither sun nor moon, and the world was swim- 
ming in an ether of unbroken blackness. One among the 



QUESTIONS ON THE MARTYRDOM OF JESUS. 113 

twelve, more beautiful and gentle than the rest, became the vic- 
tim of their envy and ambition. Under pretext to destroy 
him, each challenged the other to combat : making the condi- 
tions of defeat, certain and immediate death by burning. Ac- 
cordingly a large fire was kindled, and the warriors proceeded 
to fierce contentions — when, by the concerted force of the 
others, the most beautiful and envied knight was made to yield, 
and, as in the case of Joseph, was sacrificed by his jealous breth- 
ren. He was thrown into the flames which quickly consumed 
his body, and it disappeared in the burning pile ; but, lo ! as his 
life was extinguished on earth, in the same rapidly progressive 
manner, there came out in the firmament a Golden Sun — 
giving forth heat and light, illuminating the broad surface of 
nature, awakening birds of song, and unfolding flowers in strong 
places ! With a wonder surpassing speech, the envious knights 
recognised in the face of the glorious sun the spirit of their 
beautiful and innocent brother. Beholding his triumphant 
resurrection, they were mortified at their own defeat. Ambi- 
tious of a similar promotion, one of their number leaped into 
the fire, and experienced the tortures of burning ; but as his 
head disappeared in the flames, the remaining ten beheld the 
appearance of a pale and sickly moon whose comparative in- 
significance deterred them from further search after glory in 
that direction. 

What truth does this fable illustrate 1 

This fable typifies a sublime truth ; it bodies forth the des- 
tiny of two classes. He who aspires to the martyr's crown 
of thorns, to the end that he may be famous and popular in 
history, becomes but a pale satellite in the firmament of Jus- 
tice ; while, on the contrary, he who, forgetful of self, dies by 
the hand of violence to vindicate what he considered to be a 
great Principle, comes out like a golden Orb in the starry 
dome which overarches the temple of Humanity. 

Is there a principle of distributive justice in the affairs of the world ? 

There is an irresistible Gulf-Stream of distributive justice, 
with ebbless tide, palpitating with deific energy, setting straight 
through the Ocean of human life, which compels a benefited 
posterity to crown with glory the Man who suffered martyrdom 

8 



114 QUESTIONS ON THE MARTYKDOM OF JESUS. 

by mistaken ancestors. Children bless what fathers curse. 
And the martyr awakes, Phoenix-like, from his ashes, and 
soars o'er the fields of former persecution, unmolested ever- 
more and cheered with songs of praise. 

" Thus the world goes round and round, 
And the genial seasons run — 
And ever the truth comes uppermost, 
And ever is justice done !" 

What are your impressions concerning the infallibility and standardship of the 
Old and New Testaments ? 

It should go abroad, that this (the Harmonial) platform, 
so long as I have anything to do with it, is free, in the 
largest possible acceptation of the word, to every person of 
goodness of motive, himself being the judge, to controvert or 
correct any position which may be taken. It is to be understood, 
therefore, that I am always in a condition of mind to be 
taught. I welcome all persons who differ from me in regard 
to the Scriptures. Let us all seek the path of rectitude and 
righteousness. 

Are all readers prepared to look at this question dispassionately 1 

No ; it seems to me that many are not simple-minded enough 
to get at the plain unvarnished truth. Many are too much 
afraid of the speech of the world ; not enough in possession 
of their own faculties and individuality ; all the time fearing 
that they shall utter some sentiment which will be heralded 
throughout the world as too radical, and heretical absolutely, 
to the recognised doctrines of the Christian system. Of this 
class I know there are many. I know also that there are a 
few, a blessed group, who, standing beautifully above such 
fear, have attained unto considerable truth in the way of inde- 
pendent investigation ; not only by interrogating what are 
called the manifestations of spirituality, but, also, by a free 
and candid examination of the cardinal doctrines which under- 
lie the Churches of the Nineteenth Century. It will be found 
that those who have investigated the semi-popular spiritual phe- 
nomena, who have interpreted for the soul's benefit the princi- 
ples of Christianity, and arisen above the standards recog- 
nised as orthodox by the world, are persons whose marks and 



QUESTIONS ON THE MARTYRDOM OF JESUS. 115 

works will be looked upon by the people of the future ages, 
not as authorities, but as guideboards to still greater and high- 
er revelation. 

What do ministers say concerning the Scriptures ? 

We are told by honorable gentlemen who keep the pulpits, 
that the Bible is the inspired truth ; the word of God. Now, 
it would be entirely just to ask : how is it possible for minis- 
ters to make this assertion intelligently, unless they have re- 
ceived and comprehended a superior revelation ? 

How is it possible for any natural-minded man, one who has merely gone 
through the colleges and been otherwise artificially prepared for the ministry, to 
have sufficient illumination wherewith to pronounce the Bible to be surely and 
truly the word of God 1 

It is impossible. To accept that as truth which is not within 
the comprehension of the intellect, is a position similar to that 
taken by every leader and devotee in heathenism. One man, for 
example, believes in Juggernaut because it was believed in by 
his forefathers ; not because of any understanding concerning it. 
Another believes that all religious truth has descended from on 
high, through the Shaster of Hindoostan. Why ? Because it 
is said so by the masters and worshippers of that great produc- 
tion. So it is in our own vast country. Plenty of persons 
there are, even my next-door neighbors, who believe the Bible 
to be " the word of God." Do they believe because of intel- 
lectual apprehension of any principle contained in it? — be- 
cause of any wise comprehension of the scope and drift of the 
whole ? No. Why, then, do they believe ? I answer, in con- 
sequence of the teachings of their fathers and forefathers — of 
those about them who occupy high places, clothed with a little 
brief authority — whom, even from the earliest youth, they 
were taught to reverence as the true teachers of this book and 
its truths. How can we pronounce that to be supernatural, un- 
less we have a revelation superior to it, by which to compre- 
hend and decide the question ? To affirm that the Bible is 
truly and totally the communication of God, through different 
men to the world's inhabitants, without any supernatural reve- 
lation (which modern ministers do not profess to have) is, to 
say the least, an appropriation of authority based upon opin- 



116 QUESTIONS ON THE MAETYEDOM OF JESUS. 

ion, which more simple-mindedness would banish from the in- 
tellectual and wisdom faculties. 

Does the general mind easily recognise, through facts, the existence of a prin- 
ciple ? 

Nothing is clearer to me than that the human mind, when in 
its highest condition, naturally recognises principles ; and rec- 
ognises, also, that those principles tend to external embodi- 
ment. For instance, there is a principle of architecture in the 
human mind. What then ? In the course of human develop- 
ment, houses are built, ships are constructed, and different fo*ms 
and structural beauties come forth on both land and sea ; they 
come as the external manifestations of a principle in the soul 
of man. So, also, in the soul, there is a principle of Love. 
This principle^ is an abstract, a vital, essence ; but comes di- 
rectly outward into manifestations. It begets the blessed rela- 
tions of brother and sister, the relations existing between child 
and parent, between husband and wife, relations which go on 
backward, and forward, interlocking and interlacing through- 
out, binding the world together. Then homes are sought and 
found. All the delightful experiences of home, and all the be- 
witchments and inversionisms of society, are the external mani- 
festations of this soul-principle called Love ; so, also, is every 
other relation and event and condition the result of some princi- 
ple in the constitution of man, flowing into outward embodiment 
and expression. As soon as men feel an affection for something, 
they get the intellectual impulse to carry out and accomplish. 
The emotion to construct a house or steamship, is followed, in 
due time, by the executive power by which to elaborate that 
emotion. In a word, there is an attribute of wisdom in the 
mind — a power to express outward order, form, and proportion 
— by which man intuitively sees eternal principles. 

Does this principle of wisdom come also into open manifestation 1 

Yes ; and with it cometh another manifestation — the worship 
of the manifestation — exposing the soul's utter forgetfulness 
of their source. Many persons there are, who, having come 
out from Catholicism, look back into the Romish Church and 
wonder how intelligent minds can still worship at the shrine 
of Idols and graven Images. Now, I tell you that an intelli- 



t 



QUESTIONS ON THE MARTYRDOM OF JESUS. 117 

gent Catholic looks directly through the image of Virgin 
Mary to the principle which she is supposed to represent. But 
another, less intelligent and more material, thinks he must 
worship the object. So, there are Christians in this country 
occupying the same position in reference to this question of the 
Bible. 

What do you mean by this assertion ? 

I mean that they forget the divine principle in man which 
seeks to express itself in books, in ideas, in shadows, types, and 
symbols — confounding, thus, the principle with the embodi- 
ment, the spirit with the letter. They take the embodiment 
as the essential, forget the principle, and bestow at last unlim- 
ited reverence and affection upon the book itself. An intelli- 
gent Catholic thinks he sees the principle of divine illumina- 
tion coming down from heaven, a blessing which was vouch- 
safed originally to the wife of Joseph ; yet he does not worship 
the image of Mary as the ultimate of a religious obligation. It 
is only the uneducated Catholic who does that. Even so the 
educated Christian is not absorbed in his reverence for the 
book, for the perishable pasteboard and the printed letter 
which killeth ; but he sees through and beyond it all, sees a 
divine principle, which is no more dependent upon the book for 
expression than the Virgin Mary's image is necessary for the 
existence of the state of virginity which it represents. When 
I meet an intelligent and spiritual Christian, Catholic or Prot- 
estant, I find a man, a brother ; at once ready to clasp hands, 
and to converse, without trembling, concerning the question of 
the Bible. But when I meet a person worshipping the book, 
forgetful of the principle, then do I find one who looks upon 
me and those who think as I do, as hopelessly infidel. He pit- 
ies me in my skepticism ; and I pity him in his. The differ- 
ence between us is this — he worships the book without the 
spirit ; while I reverence the spirit, without the book. We 
should remember that all manifestations of principles are 
necessarily more or less imperfect. It can not be expected 
that we should get, through all the ages of antiquity, a per- 
fect transcript of what Jesus, John, and Paul, thought and 
accomplished. No one can either believe or expect it, who 



118 QUESTIONS ON THE MARTYRDOM OF JESUS. 

has any reliable knowledge of human actions or human his- 
tory. 

Are there many persons capable of separating a principle from its manifesta- 
tions 1 

There are very few persons, it seems to me, who have the 
power, the self-subordinating abstractedness, to look through 
forms to principles. Most persons lose all idea of principle, 
when they begin to venerate the manifestation. Christians, 
for example, are sensitive when we refer to the man Jesus ; 
as if the existence of the man was necessary to the exist- 
ence of a Christ-principle ; as if Jesus, the blessed brother, 
was one and the same with a saving principle ! We will say 
that principles are eternal, and if eternal, they are universal ; 
but every one knows that Jesus was a man of Nazareth — not 
ubiquitous, in all the worlds like a principle — not even in all 
the lands of this world. He was a local man ; with local 
characteristics. A principle of truth, on the contrary, can be 
confined to no centre ; to no one land or nation ; to no one sea, 
though it should flow in Galilee. It is boundless as infinitude ; 
without variableness or turning shadow. A man, on the other 
hand, has his peculiarities, his idiosyncracies, which necessa- 
rily become interfused more or less, and confounded eventually 
with the principle which his character and acts are said to rep- 
resent. No enlightened one will deny, I think, that Christ 
was the best representative of a Love-principle. 

But is a representative essential to the existence of the principle represented ? 

No ; the principle existed before as well as since. The 
" Christ-principle" I call it, simply to be familiar and accom- 
modating. Jesus was a local man ; the " Christ ?" that means 
a principle. Jesus, as you remember, is a Greek word for the 
Hebrew Joshua; but " Christ?" that signifies Savior, or a 
physician : that principle which elevates, bathes, beautifies, per- 
meates, spiritualizes, the soul of man — bringing it into harmony 
with angel, with seraph, with the heart of All Tilings. The 
Christ-principle, then, is universal. It shone through several 
natures before Jesus, shone through him when lie existed, and 
still shines through every good word and work. Jesus was 



QUESTIONS ON THE MARTYRDOM OP JESUS. 119 

prepared, by organic arrangements and intuitional characteris- 
tics, to shadow forth and exhibit the nature of Love. 

Can you impart your impressions concerning Jesus through language 1 

Nothing exalts the mind quicker than a perception of' its 
own possibilities, even though foreshadowed by the existence 
of some other mind. Let us, then, contemplate Jesus as a 
man. His general organization was indeed remarkable, inas- 
much as he possessed combined the perfection of physical 
beauty, mental powers, and refined accomplishments. He was 
generally beloved during his youth, for his great powers of 
discernment, his thirst after knowledge, and his disposition to 
inquire into the causes of mental phenomena, of the conditions 
of society, and of the visible manifestations of Nature. He was 
also much beloved for his pure natural sympathy for all who 
were suffering afflictions either of a physical or mental charac- 
ter. His benevolence of love toward all without distinction ; 
his constant yearning for the companionship of those who were 
considered good and righteous ; his marked respect and affec- 
tions for those who were much older than himself ; his constant 
visits to those who required relief from their afflictions ; and 
his kind words of consolation to those who were depressed 
either by disease or unhappy social circumstances — all con- 
tributed to render him an object of general love and attachment. 
These were the peculiarities which distinguished him from all 
other persons then living.* 

How, then, do you hehold Jesus on the scene of history ? 

I behold Jesus as a great and good Reformer ; as connected 
with no marvellous or mysterious aristocracy, but as being 
born of lowly parents, and fostered in the bosom of their do- 
mestic habitation ; as possessing intelligence to a surpassing 
degree ; as manifesting unbounded love, benevolence, and sym- 
pathy ; as healing the sick, restoring the blind, curing the 
lame, and visiting the disconsolate in their afflictions ; as 
preaching love, morality, peace on earth and good will to 
men ; as instructing the multitudes in the paths of pleasant- 
ness and peace ; and as loving all and disliking none. I be- 
hold him as being condemned, nailed to the cross, and dying a 

* See Nature's Divine Kevelations, p. 561. 



120 QUESTIONS ON THE MARTYRDOM OF JESUS. 

martyr to the cause of love, wisdom, and virtue !* Such is 
one of the parts in the great monument which an ignorant 
and misdirected world have erected to their own shame and 
folly ! 

Do our modern Churches worship the manifestation of a principle and not the 
principle itself? 

There are cultivated members, I know, who consider that 
the spirit giveth life, that the letter killeth ; but they are too 
quickly counted. With these minds I have no difference, on 
this question. But those who absorb the symbol and lose them- 
selves in the letter, in the manifestation — forgetting that prin- 
ciple which giveth life and light to the symbol, letter, or mani- 
festation — such, create a difference which will continue through 
all this world. Such worship the Virgin and forget the prin- 
ciple she represents ; worship the Bible, and forget its value 
as a history. There is a principle of wisdom in man, which, 
when cultivated separate from books and arbitrary standards, 
would be a sufficient source of salvation. It is not necessary 
to read the Bible, nor to worship it, or to know where it was 
printed, in order to be saved. Salvation consists in part of 
self-regeneration — in absorbing into one's nature, and exhibit- 
ing from it " The Christ Principle," the principle of Love — 
shoreless, boundless, having neither depths nor heights, yet al- 
ways within the sensibilities and comprehension of a true hu- 
man spirit. 

What is the most reliable definition of popular Christianity? 

It should be borne in mind that Christianity, as understood 
by the Church, is a system of symbolisms, of ordinances, of 
subjection to higher authority. Frequently it hath been said, 
" Christianity has not been lived out" — that all we want is an 
opportunity, by social organization and other instrumentalities, 
to live out the great ideas taught by Jesus. The doctrines 
taught by the Church in reference to him, have been lived out. 
Men are living, so to speak, upon the husks of the fossiliferous 
past ; yet many believe that the Church is giving them water, 
food, and raiment. Men engage themselves with the forms 
and symbols of religion, and force themselves into subjection 

* See Nat. Div. Rev. and the second vol. of Great Harmonia. 



QUESTIONS ON THE MARTYRDOM OF JESUS. 121 

to the supposed holy ordinances of the past, seek to be in har- 
mony with the Churches, and lose thereby the Christ-principle 
which Jesus tried to exhibit, namely : the spirit of love — uni- 
versal and unextinguishable philanthropy. That, I repeat, is 
the Christ principle.* But Jesus was a man of Nazareth. Some 
good did come out of Nazareth ; yea, out of the man who 
was born there. But who will worship the local man ? In the 
record of him — there are manifestations of a heavenly princi- 
ple. When we behold a demonstration of the principle of 
Love, then do we perceive that which partakes of the Divine, 

— an exhibition of the principle of intelligent forgiveness 

— and we should bow before it, worshipping it as quick and 
profoundly in our next neighbor as in the record of the man of 
Nazareth. In proportion as men become absorbed in the sym- 
bol or the letter, they become materialistic, and forget or fail 
to recognise the spiritual side of the principle. It has been 
reported recently of a little street-girl in New York, that, on 
being unexpectedly benefited by a woman to her unknown, she 
asked " if she (the good woman) was not God's wife !" This 
was a manifestation of " Christ" to the little girl. 

Can any man believe and be saved through the " Christ/' and yet separate his 
thoughts from Jesus ? 

Yes ; every man can and should do so. Jesus taught the 
principle of love. His words and works give out the light 
and beauty which his soul had received upon that principle. 
Men both see and feel this principle, in all its heavenly bearings, 
when in their highest states. This is the principle by which 
men shall be saved from hatreds, imperfections, perversions, 
and inversions, throughout the world. The way to be saved, 
then, is to act wisely upon " The Christ-principle" — not to be 
a follower of Jesus. The paramount question is not what he 
did, nor what he thought. He had to live, do, and die, 
for himself. He may have had affections, peculiar to his na- 
ture, which you can never realize. In the midst of all, how- 
ever, he manifested a loving forgiveness, a womanly gentle- 
ness, a hospitality of soul, which, whenever demonstrated by 

* See a work by the Author, entitled, " The Approaching Crisis." 



122 QUESTIONS ON THE MAETYKDOM OF JESUS. 

any human being, is the most beautiful indication of the pres- 
ence of God. 

What do you see in Christianity so very objectionable ? 

Every calm reader will see at once that I object, first, to 
the materialism of the Churches ; and, second, to the worship 
of the Book as an authority above man's pure Reason. I am 
an entire believer in the principle, which lies in the founda- 
tion of Christianity, not the follower of qjij one man who is 
claimed as the immediate incarnation and expounder of it. I 
have reverence sufficient to worship that principle of wisdom 
and happiness which cometli directly and at all times from the 
Infinite God. When I behold this principle nestling in all hu- 
man hearts, waiting an opportunity for expression, then do I 
see evidence that the Christ-principle is universal ; that it can 
be appropriated by all nature, and exhibited just so far as our 
social circumstances and organic dispositions will permit and 
suggest. Therefore, I can not blame the man who fails to ex- 
hibit Christ ; because, if I seek, I find so very much in or 
about him which will explain adequately the absence of such 
manifestation. 

Where did the doctrine of denunciation, of blame and praise, originate 1 

The scolding propensity is of heathen origin — is of igno- 
rance born. The forgiving principle is Christian. Men ad- 
mire Jesus when he acted upon the Love-principle. They 
admire him yet more, when, nailed to the cross and interiorly 
expanded in this principle, he prayed — " Father, forgive mine 
enemies — these Jews — they know not what they do." Men 
reverence that exhibition ; and many worship the man. I 
wonder not that almost every artist, with power to bring his 
thoughts out upon canvass, goes to work to exhibit that sublime 
spectacle. But when men read how Jesus went to lash the 
money-changers, a shudder comes over them ; and he does not 
now stand within the circle of their reverence. Here comes 
his peculiar individual character; with no exhibition of a 
Christ-principle. The love-principle, no person, except him, 
had the organic power or social ability to express. When he 
takes upon himself the Mosaic 'Characteristic, to whip and 
scold men into the traces of belief and duty, he seems to be no 



QUESTIONS ON THE MARTYRDOM OF JESUS. 123 

longer the inspired son of God. He seems now as one among 
other men, excited as others are by opposition. You intellec- 
tually sec, then, that it is the Christ-principle which is adequate 
to save us, and not the man Jesus of Nazareth. Man may 
pray to and through the Lord Jesus, but unless he put on prac- 
tice the Christ-principle, he can not be saved. 

This word "saved" is a common term in theology, signifying an eternal rescue ; 
What do you mean by this word ? 

By the word " saved," I do not mean from a place of end- 
less suffering, but from immediate discords, immediate anxie- 
ties and troubles in this world, saved from discords, and mental 
anxieties for many indefinite periods in the world to come — 
saved, not from eternal perdition, but from derangements of 
soul and society. Put on the Christ-principle, through wis- 
dom — put on that which Jesus put on — and then, behold " God 
manifest in the flesh !" 

What relation is theologically assumed to subsist between the early Jews and 
the scheme of salvation ? 

It is assumed in theology that the Jews were the chosen and 
favorite people of God ; that he selected, them, out of all na- 
tions of the earth, in order to manifest his interest ; to bring 
about the workings of the scheme of salvation. Every one who 
has read their history, knows that the Jews were — morally, in 
tellectually, socially, physically — no better than wandering 
tribes and several nations about them. 

What testimony can you adduce to support this assertion'? 

The testimony of Isaiah, in reference to that people, is very 
much in point. He affirms them to be — " A sinful nation, a 
people laden with iniquity, a seed of evil-doers, children that 
are corrupters." In another place, he says: "Thy princes are 
rebellious and the companions of thieves. Every one loveth 
gifts and followeth after rewards. They judge not the father- 
less, neither does the cause of the widow come unto them." 
Such is Isaiah's testimony in reference to that people, the an- 
cient Jews ; an enslaved race which the Church believes to 
have been especially raised up by Deity ; that he might openly 
manifest his preference, and prepare the way for a tragical 
system of salvation ! He has given us yet another testimony 



124 QUESTIONS ON THE MARTYRDOM OF JESUS. 

concerning them — "For every one is a hypocrite and evil- 
doer ; and every mouth speaketh folly." It would be difficult 
to find in any class of people more corruption. Isaiah further 
says — "They have erred; through wine, through strong 
drink ; they are out of the way. The priest and prophet have 
erred through strong drink. They are sivallowed up of rvine. 
They err in their vision; they stumble in their judgment ; all 
their tables are full of vomit and filthiness, so that there is no 
place clean. ,i Such, I repeat, is Isaiah's testimony in regard 
to the people which (as the Churches believe) God raised up for 
his special purposes ; a peculiar tribe of semi-religious individ- 
uals, not so good as many contemporary races. 

Were the Jews more susceptible of spiritual influx than other oriental tribes ? 

Whatever may have been the opinions of the early Christians 
(who were mainly converts from the Jews), in regard to this 
nation, I have at present no positive perception ; and yet, I get 
an impression that they were more susceptible to spiritual inter- 
course than many about them, except the devoted seers and 
poets of Asia. They had all 5 kinds and degrees of impressions, 
except the impressions of pure wisdom. Every one which 
came bolting into the soul, so to speak, the recipient called a 
" thus saith the Lord ;" and if the prophet made a mistake, 
he said — "It is not I but the Lord that deceiveth." No 
prophet or medium could admit that he had made a mistake. 
It was said — " The Lord said unto Moses or Aaron." Intel- 
ligent men would say, to-day, that some agents or spirits have 
erred. Men can speak now from the era of more light. The 
Jews seemed to be a race of mediums, fortune-tellers, sooth- 
sayers, &c. ; especially certain persons among them, as Moses 
and his most active agents. How strong and deep was his 
impression to leave Egyptian bondage ; to go forth ; to bring 
out the people ; to start a new system of government ; and to 
establish, out of the best of the old, a new religion. 

Was not this marvellous proceeding of Moses the execution of a providential 
arrangement ? 

No ; there was nothing supernatural in his proceedings. 
Moses was educated at the very centre of education ; at Pha- 
raoh's house ; had the advantage of all the lore of Egypt ; was 



QUESTIONS ON THE MARTYRDOM OF JESUS. 125 

a recipient of the civilization which clustered about the disci- 
pline of a powerful king. It was not wonderful, therefore, that 
he was intellectually enabled and morally qualified to form a 
system of religion called " The Ten Commandments," and a 
theocratic government full of barbarism and tyranny. It is 
not at all wonderful, that, being a medium as hundreds now are, 
a voice came to him out of the clouds — " Thus saith the Lord ; 
Go forth, and do this and that." It is precisely in accord with 
our experience ; only we have more than he had ; and with a 
rational philosophy to explain, we say that the Lord is not ad- 
dressing us ; but, on the contrary and more beautiful, that it is 
some friend, some spirit, some angel. Moses, however, gave 
out his impressions as absolute authority ; not to be questioned. 
But men have learned better ; progression has been made even 
in Religion. We do not now give out such communications as 
authority ; but as that which should be questioned — believing 
that portions of every communication are always good — as 
aids and stepping-stones to better things. 

But were the Jews not more acceptable to Jesus than other people ? 

In the New Testament I find a continuation of the same un- 
fortunate testimony concerning the Jews. Isaiah's testimony 
was entirely corroborated and confirmed by Jesus ; in words 
with which most Bible-readers are familiar. They are to be 
found in Matthew's report : " Woe unto you scribes, Pharisees, 
hypocrites" — that is, editors, conservatives, all mere profes- 
sionists — " for ye shut np the kingdom of heaven against men, 
Ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are en- 
tering to go in. Woe unto you scribes, Pharisees, hypocrites," 
— editors, conservatives, speculatists, professional men — "for 
ye devour widows' houses" — now think of South and Wall 
streets, New York — "and for pretence make long prayers" — 
Trinity church directly in front of Wall street — " therefore ye 
shall receive the greater condemnation." The word " con- 
demnation" is very positive and appropriate here ; but would 
not be proper out of this connection ; it would elsewhere sound 
like an oath ; but here it looks like a cannon-ball loaded with 
earnest and deserved rebuke. This bombardment of the Jew- 
ish character is intensely wholesome ! " Woe unto you scribes, 



126 QUESTIONS ON THE MARTYRDOM OF JESUS. 

Pharisees, and hypocrites, for ye compass sea and land to make 
one proselyte" — think of the missionary enterprise in South 
America and elsewhere — " and when he is made, ye make him 
ten-fold more the child of h-11 (prejudice, and superstition) 
than yourselves." H^g^The word "Hell" in a correct ver- 
sion (?) might be rendered " discord." Again Jesus says : 
" Woe unto ye scribes, Pharisees, and hypocrites, for ye pay 
tithes of anise, of cummin, and have omitted the weightier 
matters of the law — judgment, mercy, faith. These ought you 
to have done and not leave the other undone. Ye blind guides, 
which strain at a gnat and swallow a camel." That is to say 
— Woe unto you editors, speculatists, conservatives, politi- 
cians, hypocrites, capitalists, for ye prepare your ministers for 
the work of being artistically eloquent and entertaining — 
teach them to turn long and beautiful periods — but within, ye 
and they are full of expedients, enslavements, big salaries, and 
excesses of living. (This reading is in anticipation of the Bible 
revised and improved.) Thou blind Pharisee, ye who know 
nothing of spiritual worlds, cleanse first that which is in thy cup 
and platter, so that the outside of them may be also clean ; 
woe unto you scribes, Pharisees, and hypocrites, for ye are like 
unto whited sepulchres, which appear beautiful, but are in real- 
ity full of dead men's bones — fossils of ancient myths and de- 
cayed theologies. 

To whom did Jesus apply the language quoted from Matthew's report 1 

This is the description which Jesus of Nazareth transmits to 
this day, of the people against whom Isaiah also testified ; and 
yet, the Jews are believed in all Christendom to have been the 
chosen people of God ! He delineates and denounces them as 
scribes, Pharisees, and hypocrites, full of all uncleanness, of 
discord, of selfishness, of ambiguities, and inversions of charac- 
ter. It is not only believed by Christendom that the Jews 
were the " chosen people of God," but this belief is essentially 
important to the Christian system ; because, Jesus himself gave 
his whole work to that people. This sectarian attachment 
shows the idiosyncracy and ante-natal tendencies of the man. 
He was not universal, like a principle ; neither was he cosmo- 
politan. Jesus implies that his mission was local ; he did not 



QUESTIONS ON THE MARTYRDOM OF JESUS* 127 

deny being a king of the Jews ; his doctrine was not to the 
Samaritans, nor to the Gentiles, but to the Jews particularly. 
He preached to them, and did many works for them ; gave 
them laws, and a blessed new commandment ; considered that 
he was in a line of successive supernaturalisms, beginning with 
Adam and passing through Moses ; that he was legitimately in 
the line descending from the house of David ; the rightful heir 
to the throne of Judea ; and lastly, according to the plan, was 
.destroyed by the very people whom he came to save and exalt. 
Every impartial person — every reader of the opinions he en- 
tertained — will acknowledge that he was not a world-wide 
and cosmopolitan reformer. 

Suppose we admit your ideas on this subject, what is the most needful want of 
the mind ? 

The mind needs to grasp the idea of a universal principle. 
The expansion of a local person into a principle is impossible. 
No one can be a follower of Jesus, and, at the same time, be a 
world-wide reformer. Jesus made — as every other individual 
must — comparisons and distinctions. He saw on one side a 
Gentile world ; on the other, a world of Jews. He acted as a 
Messiah to that people. He was psychologized, in part, by the 
corresponding conviction of those who surrounded him. To 
them he had to teach ; to deliver the word of salvation. He 
believed in the existence of human sheep and goats ; of persons 
good in heart, and in hearts of evil. His, was not a universal 
system of perfect reform ; yet his every word looked eventually 
that way. 

What is the central doctrine of popular Christianity ? 

The doctrine taught to the world is, subjection to higher au<- 
thority. This is Christianity, as understood at the present 
time. It is the doctrine of submission. Obey your existing 
rulers ; be the friends of popular law and order ; servants, 
obey your masters. Those who say Christianity has not been 
lived out, in this sense, have not yet ascertained the history of 
that system which they profess to believe. It can be shown 
that Christianity — as a system of subjection to higher author- 
ity — has been practically tried and lived out. Christianity is 
fixed in human history. Therefore it can not be said that this 



128 QUESTIONS ON THE MARTYRDOM OF JESUS. 

century is living under it truly. Most receivers are living 
upon the forms and symbols and husks of that which has gone 
into history. No one enlightened mind will live upon the 
symbols, the letters, and authorities of the book. Men have 
souls of their own ; they may receive illuminations of the pres- 
ent and the future. 

Are there many persons prepared for your impressions regarding Christianity % 

There are not many persons prepared to hear, in the midst 
of all their conscious imperfections, that they have lived out 
the doctrines of Christianity ; even when taken in the sense of 
subjection to external authority. But it has been lived out in 
the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church was the first well- 
authenticated system ; of the slavish subjection of the lower to 
the higher. It requires the obedience of the body of the Church 
to its heads or potentates ; and lastly, the obedience of the po- 
tentates to the special commands of Joshua. Paul, the best 
Jewish expounder of the Christian system — much better than 
any popular commentator — teaches, that the husband should 
be subjected to the Church ; that the wife should obey the hus- 
band. As the Church should be subject to Christ ; even so 
should woman be subject to her husband. Agree quickly with 
thine adversary, lest he cast thee into prison. Subjection is 
Christianity, in its primitive sense ; and, in this sense, Chris- 
tianity has been lived out. It has done, in this respect, all it 
can do. George Fox's school have carried out the doctrine of 
obedience of the lower to the higher ; of the body to the soul ; 
and the soul to the still more inward spirit. The Quakers 
have advocated and practised the idea of non-resistance. 
They would be overcome by evil rather than use carnal instru- 
ments in opposition to it. The Quaker system, in one sense, is 
the best exposition of Christianity. It is an illustration that 
subjection is a Christian doctrine. They endure all manner 
of unrighteousness rather than resist with the same weapons. 
They will not do evil that good may come. 

What are the general facts regarding subjection in Christian countries ? 

Through all Christian countries there are multitudes of peo- 
ple subjected to authority. There are those, here, who think 
that the Book is the word of God ; a final authority, in faith 



QUESTIONS ON THE MARTYRDOM OP JESUS. 129 

and practice. You may speak of the doctrine of " good will to 
men" to the end of days, but you will not satisfy the Church. 
The Church says, " Tell me that the Bible is the word of God, 
and I will call you a Christian." But this would not be in 
accordance with a law of progress. 

Does any one believe that the Book is essential to Salvation ? 

Yes ; there are many externalists and authoritarians who 
think so, and yet such know that there was no Bible for Mat- 
thew. Paul had to write his own letters — his own bible — 
from his own inspirations. He wrote to the Thessalonians, to 
the Galatians, to the Romans ; and why can not you also write ? 
— " write" in your lives, in your deeds, of friendship, and af- 
fection ? What more beautiful letters than such ? Write out 
of the bible of your own soul, where liveth for ever the Christ- 
principle ! Come to this spiritual platform, and see how the 
subjection of the lower to the higher, of the weak to the strong 
— which is in the main a Christian doctrine — will be sup- 
ported by natural and healthy influxes, emanating from the 
Love or Christ-principle, saving you from hatred and malice 
and revenge. Worship that principle ; not a man. Defend 
not the book, but the doctrine of love to man and love to God : 
this is the sum and substance of all Religion. 

Suppose we should resolve from this hour to set ourselves against authority, 
and live the true life, what regard shall we bestow upon the New Testament 
writers ? 

It matters not what Matthew, Mark, John, or Jesus said, 
thought, or did. The question is, do you, in your life and 
soul, advocate the principle of Universal Love. The whole 
question turns upon this point — whether you will worship 
Principles instead of persons — whether you will take the 
spirit in preference to the letter — whether you will take the 
idea rather than the symbol. When you read the book prop- 
erly it ceases to be an authority. The good principles of the 
book should be regarded as aids, as helps, as stepping-stones, 
to higher and better revelations. 

By what authority can the Bible be decided as the word of God 1 

No person, as I said, is capable of pronouncing the Bible the 
word of God, unless he is sufficiently inspired by a higher rev- 

9 



130 QUESTIONS ON THE MARTYRDOM OF JESUS. 

elation. If any man pronounces it to be the word of God, 
without such higher revelation, his say-so is worth as much as 
a similar affirmation by the worshipper of Juggernaut. He 
affirms, not by intelligence, but by the faith ; inherited from 
his forefathers, endorsed by antiquity. Our worship of the 
past is in proportion to our ignorance of it. More reverence 
for principles will lessen confidence in personal embodiments. 

But is there not something natural in the association of a person with a princi- 
ple he may have represented ? 

Yes ; he who loves the Christ-principle will also love persons 
in proportion as they manifest it. Jesus was, to a beautiful 
extent, the " Son of God." Why ? Because he made the best 
practical exposition of the Principle. If, however, we should 
learn that the doctrine of subjection (which he taught) can be 
improved by a principle of wisdom — which will bring order and 
form in society — then we would say, that, although he ad- 
vanced the temple which was based upon the proceedings of 
Moses, yet future generations must put on the turret and build 
the dome. This spiritual temple was began in Egypt ; the 
building continued through all the prophets and seers of inter- 
mediate ages ; but — how many spacious chambers and galleries 
of immortal beauty were added by the Man of Nazareth ! 

Do you mean to teach that spirits are helping man to build this temple 1 

Yes ; it is yet going through the process of erection ; every 
man here, and every angel yonder, is a builder. When men 
come into the higher rooms, then they draw close to the region 
where communications are both easy and natural. Spiritual 
men are no longer believers. By actual experience, spirits 
communicate with the sons of men. Every one, disposed to 
be in harmony with these principles, is a builder of the temple 
of progressive redemption. We have but little to do with the 
past ; only so far as it sheddeth instruction. The past is fixed 
eternally ; no man can alter it. No praying, no preaching, 
no spiritual device, can possibly erase an action or efface the 
history of an institution. The great point is, to live from this 
hour in reference to the symmetrical erection of the Spiritual 
Temple. Men will be beautiful and happy in proportion as 
they regulate their existence by the Twelve Commandments. 



QUESTIONS ON 

THE MYTHS OF MODERN THEOLOGY. 



My thoughts were meditating upon the unutterable splendor 
and unchangeable order of the Universe. I was thinking how 
ten thousand times ten thousand orbs were shining in the still 
depths of immensity — each in its own beautiful sphere — each 
performing its duties in the great fraternity of worlds — each 
full of eternal, inherent, immutable essences, and replete with 
properties and principles which, while they secure obedience, 
also themselves obey; and then I contemplated the Heart 
of hearts, the Divine Cause, the Fountain Source of all these 
ponderous, manifold, and beautiful existences ; how the Eter- 
nal Cause " acts to one end, but acts by various Laws" — un- 
changeable ; the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever — a Be- 
ing who lives and acts as far from the finite as I live and act 
from the Infinite ; constitutionally and essentially without vari- 
ableness, neither shadow of turning — perfect, without any of 
the weakness common to human nature, and not to be com- 
pared with man in any particular ; impartial, an eternal efful- 
gent Sun shining upon the just and unjust, without preferen- 
ces ; altogether lovely and attractive ; whose thoughts are not 
as our thoughts, and whose ways are not as our ways ; the 
altogether Good, the altogether Great, the Everlasting, the 
Infinite. 



132 QUESTIONS ON THE MYTHS OF MODERN THEOLOGY. 

Do the world's theological teachings ever come hefore you, when thus medita- 
ting? 

Yes ; my meditations were as the foregoing, when my eye 
caught the following passage on a page of the New York Ob- 
server (for July 28, 1853), which painfully contrasted with my 
blissful thoughts : — 

"The Patience of God. — There is no subject more won- 
drous than this ' the patience of God.' Think of the lapse of ages 
during which that patience has lasted — six thousand years! 
Think of the multitudes who have been the subjects of it. Mil- 
lions on millions, in successive climes and centuries ! Think of 
the sins which have all that time been trying and wearying that 
patience — their number, their heinousness, their aggravation! 
The world's history is a consecutive history of iniquity, a length- 
ened provocation of the Almighty's forbearance !" 

Will mankind ever discard such mythology as this paragraph presents 1 

Certainly ; behold what a soul-degrading conception of 
our Father-God ! The good man and the great-minded can 
revere only a Being vihose character is fixed in all the perfec- 
tions of the celestial life, affectionate and beautiful always ; no 
changeableness — beyond the capability of alteration or ex- 
tinction — a Source of Love and Wisdom perpetual. 

The New York Observer is unceasing in its efforts to spread 
old notions among the people. "The patience of God !" It 
sounds like a voice from the tombs of oriental mythology. The 
Egyptian gods, many and beautiful, had human frailties. Gre- 
cian gods would occasionally get into a furious passion and 
"lose all patience" with the absurdities of mundane transactions. 
The capricious and nervous gods of the Aztecs, with sleepless 
eyes and fleetest locomotion, would perforin wondrous things 
within volcanoes and under burning mountains. The Persian 
angels of depravity were permitted to frighten people by means 
of " thunder and lightning," and thus secure their attachment 
and loyalty to Allah and Ormudz. But to teach, in the middle 
of this century, such weaknesses as characteristic of our own 
ever-just and ever-loving Father-God, is at once an insult to the 
reason and intuition of every living man, and a hinderance to 
the cause of theological discovery and improvement. 



QUESTIONS ON THE MYTHS OF MODERN THEOLOGY. 133 

Moved, perhaps, by a desire to impart more theological in- 
formation, the Observer states, in the same irreverent and blas- 
phemous paragraph, that " of all the examples of the Almighty 
Power, there is none more wondrous or amazing than God's 
power over himself." 

Intelligent reader : think of this dispassionately. Here, the 
Observer is commending the Living God as an exemplification 
of self-control ; he don't get angry in a hurry ; suffers exceed- 
ingly with the short-comings of puny man ; is almost aggrava- 
ted to destructive passion with sins of human beings (sins 
which can only injure the sinner), and yet, like a self-regula- 
ted philosopher, the Almighty controls his temper and is yet 
longer gentle with venerable offenders ! 

What a miserable myth is this ! That doctrine which is 
father to it, must be " totally depraved," corrupt in its very 
core. It will do, perhaps, for uncivilized and undeveloped 
minds ; but from all such degraded and degrading conceptions 
of the great "I AM," let the good spirit of Father-God deliver 
us ! Theological myths are possibly pleasurable to the Ob- 
server people — that is, if one is to judge a tree by its fruit, or 
a religious publication by the odor and tone of its articles ; 
nevertheless, let us work diligently for the ultimate destruc- 
tion of all such trees, and of all such mythological teachings, 
and do all we possibly can toward making the wilderness of 
modern theology to blossom as the Rose. 

Suppose we conclude to issue a paper precisely unlike the New York Observer, 
how should we announce our intentions ? 

If you desire to issue a Harmonial paper, with its column? 
wide open to a candid discussion of the colossal ideas of uni- 
versal Reform, you should unroll your banner on the bosom of 
the free air, with this device : " Freedom of Speech, and Lib- 
erty of the Press /" 

What does the New York Observer teach in regard to the religious education 
of children % 

" Children should be early taught," says the Observer, " that 
the Bible is the great authority ; and that when it speaks upon 
any point the question is settled for ever. They should be 
taught to go directly to the Scriptures to find what is good and 



134 QUESTIONS ON THE MYTHS OF MODERN THEOLOGY. 

what is bad, what is true and what is false. Thus, with the 
blessing of God, they will acquire the habit of constantly sub- 
ordinating their oivn notions and inclinations to the plain dec- 
larations of Scripture. It is a good sign to hear a child often 
use the expression, 4 The Bible says so.' "* 

The Observer's efforts to manufacture crudities, to multiply 
sectarians, are unmeasured and unceasing. Children are urged 
to regard the Bible as the great authority. If the young mind 
repels the unnatural thought, then they should be " early 
taught" to adopt the authority at all events, no matter how se- 
vere the trial may be. Authority, as already shown, is the lan- 
guage of despotism ; it attempts to form the convictions of the 
mind. Authority has built the gibbet and the cross : all that 
blackens the pages of history, was originated by the bigotry, 
the sectarianism, and the superstition, whose only parent was 
arbitrary authority — opinion. And children should be "early 
taught that the Bible is the great authority." 

What shall be done with a system of religion which promulgates doctrines so 
despotic ? 

What shall be done ? The declarations of Science must be 
denounced ; Reason must be silenced ; Experience, upon its 
bended knees, must confess to lies ; Truth must conform ; Vir- 
tue, be vilified ; Justice, denied ; and the whole nature of Man 
must bow in resistless obedience to the dicta of arbitrary au- 
thority — yea, all this must be done, in order to be a consist- 
ent receiver of theological monstrosities. 

The authority of mere Opinion must be imposed upon the 
plastic mind of youth ; pressed, regardless of all healthy resist- 
ance, into its very substance ! The youth grows to manhood 
with the shackles upon him.- His mind is in bondage to author- 
ity ; he can not think. He worships, not the Truth, but the au- 
thority ; he is therefore a bigot and a slave ! According to the 
New York Observer, the book is the final authority. The Bible 
may be (as it is) a combination of good things and bad things — 
it may present truth on one side and error on the other — but, no 
matter ! its authority must never be questioned. Poisonous and 
unnatural as the doctrine of authority is, it is not more perni- 

* See the Observer of July 7th, 1853. 



QUESTIONS ON THE MYTHS OF MODERN THEOLOGY. 135 

cious than this : " that when it (the Bible) speaks upon any 
point the question is settled for ever" 

Would the Observer have this opinion "early taught" to the young mind as 
religion ? 

Yes ; and yet every enlightened person knows that the Bible 
is wrong in scores of things. Its geology is wrong, its chro- 
nology is wrong, its astronomy is wrong ; it is wrong in many 
prophecies ; and there are doctrines, precepts, and practices, 
unfit for the child to learn or the man to follow. In one place 
we are informed that " God is no respecter of persons," while, 
in another place (Exodus xxxii. 37), we read this most horri- 
ble contradiction : " Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Put on 
every man his sword by his side, and go in and out from gate 
to gate throughout the camp, and slay every man his brother, 
and every man his companion, and every man his neighbor" 
In one part of the Bible (Matthew vii. 12), we read this most 
perfect of all laws : " Whatsoever ye would that men should 
do to you, do ye even so to them" — but in another place (Deut. 
xiv. 21) we read this most unwholesome of all commandments : 
"Ye shall not eat of anything that dieth of itself; thou shalt 
give it unto the stranger that is in thy gates, that he may eat 
it, or thou may est sell it unto an alien." 

The Observer esteems it a " good sign to hear a child often 
use the expression — The Bible says so." How replete with 
absurdity is such a thought — that Children, without experience 
and unable to form an intelligent idea of any great question, 
should quote the Bible as the totality of truth ! 

Do you mean to teach that men are freely to examine, and sit in judgment on 
the Bible ? 

Certainly ; when the Bible speaks upon any point, that point 
should be examined as freely as I now criticise the New York 
Observer. The Bible says a vast number of things which are 
wrong, and unworthy of a place in a book which claims to be 
the Word of God. On its pages are to be found good precepts 
and evil ones ; truth and error ; wisdom and ignorance ; and 
the child that " early" learns to receive everything the Bible 
says, as absolute truth, has a painful and difficult lesson to un- 
learn in after years. The Bible itself teaches us to " prove all 



136 QUESTIONS ON THE MYTHS OF MODERN THEOLOGY. 

things, and hold fast that which is good." A book is certainly 
included in the category of " things." So the Bible testifies 
against the New York Observer, and not less against its own 
contents. Sectarians are already too numerous for the world's 
good ; and there is scarcely a religious journal in existence cal- 
culated to increase the number more rapidly than the Observer ; 
I hope, therefore, that some moral revolution will effectually 
reform it. 

Originally, these criticisms appeared in the New York Re- 
former ; over the author's nom de plume " Silonius." Next, 
that paper contained a rejoinder, signed "Senex" — given be- 
low ; as a fair exposition of feelings of hostility experienced by 
those whose honest convictions are freely declared to be un- 
sound and absurd. 

A WORD TO "SILONIUS" BY "SENEX." 

" To the Editor of the Reformer : 

Ul The Bible says so.'' Yes ; ' the Bible says so.' This 
was the teaching of our early days, when we listened to the 
solemn admonition of a dearly loved, but now sainted mother, 
in the calm quiet of a New-England Sabbath eve. ' The Bible 
says so' has been our guiding star through many a dark and 
cheerless night of sorrow. ' The Bible says so' has rung in 
our ears, when with attentive spirit we have listened to its 
teachings. ' The fool hath said in his heart, there is no God.' 
' Thy word is a lamp to my path.' ' Hold thou me up, and I 
shall be safe.' ' God is no respecter of persons, for whosoever 
worketh righteousness shall be accepted of him.' ' The way 
of the transgressor is hard.' ' Children, obey your parents in 
the Lord, for this is well pleasing in his sight.' 

" Are the doctrines of the modern school of Progressives any 
more favorable to morals, virtue, or honesty, than this old- 
fashioned New-England teaching, ' the Bible says so' ? Are 
the men and women who have fellowship in public assemblies 
— the Rev. Browns, the Abby Kelly s, the Bloomers, the She- 
isms of all grades, the He-isms of all stripes — any more in- 
dustrious, or intelligent, or useful, than those taught in all the 
strictness of a New-England household, with the watch and 



QUESTIONS ON THE MYTHS OF MODERN THEOLOGY. 137 

6 the Bible says so' ? Are the ' higher law' doctrines of the 
present day, any better than the highest doctrine of the New- 
England Church — 'the Bible says so' ? In a word, does it 
make a man the worse citizen, or a woman the less useful, or a 
boy the more idle and vicious, to have been taught this doctrine 
— ' the Bible says so' ? 

" Well will it be for our country when such men as ' Silo- 
nius,' with all the host of Bible-scoffers, Sabbath-breakers, and 
law-destroyers, shall find the ' Harmonia' they are so anxiously 
looking for and expecting, and, gathered in one grand phalanx, 
shall confine their teachings to themselves and the children of 
their own begetting, and no influence of the kind now exerted 
shall poison the rational teachings founded upon the Bible and 
its ' says so.' 

Yours, " Senex." 



a 



A KIND WORD TO "SENEX" BY " SILONIUS. 

To the Editor of the New York Reformer : 

Dear Sir — As Editor, a position both conspicuous and ex- 
ceedingly responsible, you will doubtless be assailed — more or 
less each week — with communications leading to popular 
Conservatism, or else to principles of Progression. So far 
as such communications serve the ends of human enlighten- 
ment and reformation, you have resolved, I hope, without fear 
or favor, to admit them. On this impartial principle, you 
admitted my strictures on the New York Observer ; and, 
subsequently, the brief criticism of " Senex ;" to whom I now 
have a few kind words to communicate. 

Senex misunderstands me : I do not undertake to denounce 
or repudiate the moral teachings of the Christian's Bible ; nor 
would I utter a word to detract a particle from the poetry and 
beauty of those ideas which have been, to his mind, " a guiding 
star through many a dark and cheerless night ;" but against 
the erection of the " say so" of any man or Book, as an arbi- 
trary standard — superior to the "vital spark of heavenly 
flame" that glows within on the altar of Reason — this, in ac- 
cordance with my living conscience, I will write and speak 
against with all my heart, mind, and strength. Senex asks .— 



138 QUESTIONS ON THE MYTHS OF MODERN THEOLOGY. 

Are the doctrines of the Progressives any more favorable to morals, virtue, 
and honesty, than this old-fashioned New-England teaching — ' the Bible says so' ? 

Yes ; dear Senex, a thousand times more favorable ! New- 
England theology has tried hard, with its solemn teachings and 
ceremonies, to bring peace on earth and good will among men ; 
but it does not succeed. It labors every Sunday ; and thus keeps 
old ideas and superannuated theories popular. It is well calcu- 
lated to make bigots of young minds ; and conservatives of older 
ones. Morals, virtue, and honesty, of an ordinary kind, are 
abundant in New England ; the cash-book and ledger furnish 
the code of commercial morals ; but the universal principles of 
reform and Brotherhood — which Jesus taught — are well nigh 
buried ; lost beneath the superabundance of forms and ritu- 
als. If Jesus had confined his intuitions and mental attributes 
to the "say so" of the Pharisees and Sadducees — to the arbi- 
trary teachings of the Talmud or revered gospels of ancient 
tribes — do you suppose he would have introduced a purer and 
more spiritual form of religion ? Modern Progressives have in 
him a glorious example of independence to follow ; and as to 
"morals, virtue, and honesty," why, good Senex, fear not — 
" the Lord God omnipotent reigneth ;" therefore, all are and 
must be safe eternally ! 

Do you believe in the perfect independence and individuality of the human 
mind? 

Yes ; all external and objective authority is prejudicial to 
the symmetrical development of our interior nature. Thou- 
sands of persons, like yourself, dear Senex, have borrowed 
and begged, and procured a species of negative, transient com- 
fort from the " say so" of some revered authors. But does 
such consolation " in a dark and cheerless night" add anything 
to your manhood ? Does it start you intelligently to action ; 
for the harmonization of your brother man 7 Suppose you see 
some new scheme for improving the structure and commercial 
antagonisms of human society, dare you leave your old-fash- 
ioned New England " say so," and tread the new path ? 

"The man is thought a knave or fool, 
Or bigot, plotting crime, 
"Who, for the advancement of his kind, 
Is wiser than his time. 



QUESTIONS ON THE MYTHS OF MODERN THEOLOGY. 139 

For him the hemlock shall distil ; 

For him the axe be bared; 
For him the gibbet shall be built; 

For him the stake prepared; 
Him shall the scorn and wrath of men 

Pursue with deadly aim ; 
And malice, envy, spite, and lies, 

Shall desecrate his name. 
But truth shall conquer at the last — 

For round and round we run, 
And ever the right comes uppermost, 

And ever is justice done." 

Senex asks : " Are the ' higher law' doctrines of the present day any better 
than the highest doctrine of the New England Church ? 

Yes ; the higher law of Nature is higher than the theology 
of any church ; than the authority of any book. But the 
higher law of Nature is no higher than some of the teachings 
of Jesus. 

Why do Nature and Jesus agree in this law ? 

Because Jesus found his authority within. He taught this 
principle and that precept upon the authority of his spiritually- 
illuminated intuitions ; never relied upon any " say so" or ex- 
ternal authority ; he appealed to Father-God and to Mother- 
Nature. And I am compelled to be as true to the light within 
me ; as free, from outward standards of judgment. 

Senex speaks of the " host of Bible-scoffers, Sabbath-break- 
ers, and law-destroyers" as being worthy only of a place by 
themselves ; and he boldly intimates that they should be per- 
emptorily rejected by the world as so many enemies to its 
righteousness ! But, seriously, would it not be well for truth's 
sake to remember that these very anathematized individuals 
are the Temperance men, the Anti-Slavery men, the Peace men, 
the Anti-Superstition, the Anti-Bigotry men, of this wonderful 
age ? They head every grand reform. They lead in all the soul- 
developing and nation-revolutionizing principles and thoughts 
of this century. These men and these women are earnest. They 
believe in the eternal Father-God ; and they work because they 
believe — because they know. They ignore the Church for its 
barrenness and bigotry. These are the spirits who lead in the 
bravest and self-denying enterprises of the day. As a public 
teacher recently declared — "the skepticism of these minds is 



140 QUESTIONS ON THE MYTHS OF MODERN THEOLOGY. 

not flippant. It is not a peculiarity alone of radicals and 
fanatics ; many of them are men of calm and even balance of 
mind, and belong to no class of ultraists. It is not worldly 
and selfish. It is calm, abiding earnest." 

Strange, is it not, friend Senex, that all the great social and 
spiritual and theological Reforms of this day should be com- 
menced and prosecuted by the so-called " Infidels ?" It was 
this magnanimous independence, this conscientious breaking 
away from established forms and the " say sos" of prevailing 
authorities, which originally offended the pious Jews when Je- 
sus went forth to preach fresher forms of spirituality and ref- 
ormation. This infidelity caused the noble Nazarene to be 
anathematized, and then crucified. 

Most people, with a goodly share of intelligence, believe a 
mass of insurmountable inconsistencies, in an orthodox creed, 
which they would reject as error, could they be induced to 
compare them, one with another. Fearing lest this comparison 
will be too long procrastinated, I will myself proceed to give 
the reader twenty-eight affirmations of a bible-believer, and 
show, by means of a parallelism, that fourteen points of faith 
(one half) are exactly antipodistical to the other half, but 
which, by a church-receiver, is imagined to be every way com- 
patible and harmonious. 

What is the first affirmation and contradiction ? 

I believe that G-od is un- I believe that God repented 

changeable ; the same yester- himself that he had made man ; 

day, to-day, and for ever; with- it repented him at his heart; 

out variableness neither shad- and he cursed the ground for 

ow of turning. man's sake. 

What is the second ? 

I believe that the first pair I believe that Eve commit- 
were pure, and without inclina- ted the first sin through an 
tion either to good or evil. exercise of her own free will, 

or individual sovereignty. 

What is the third ? 

I believe that God is supe- I believe that man himself 
rior to both time and space ; can determine in this world, by 



QUESTIONS ON THE MYTHS OF MODERN THEOLOGY. 141 



that he is omniscient as well 
as omnipotent ; that he saw the 
end from the beginning ; and 
that he fore-ordains and pre- 
arranges all events in the pro- 
gression of time. 

What is the fourth ? 

I believe in the divine ori- 
gin and sanctity and univer- 
sal obligatoriness of that com- 
mandment — "Thou shalt not 
kill." 

What is the fifth 1 

I believe in the divine au- 
thenticity and universal appli- 
cability of that commandment 
— "Thou shalt not commit 
adultery." 



What is the sixth % 

I believe that God is supe- 
rior to all human weaknesses ; 
that he is never arbitrary in 
his governments, providences, 
or punishments. 



What is the seventh ? 

I believe that God is ever 
regardful of the happiness and 
welfare of his creatures ; and 
full of compassion and of great 



the life he leads and the char- 
acter he forms, whether he will 
enjoy everlasting bliss or suf- 
fer eternal misery. 



I believe that Moses and 
Joshua received divine com- 
missions to kill thousands of 
human beings for the glory of 
God and the advancement of 
his righteous kingdom. 

I believe that Moses and 
Joshua received orders from 
the throne of Grace to war 
with the Midianites, and, after 
putting to death all the male 
and female parents and male 
children, that he then gave the 
unmarried and virgin females 
for the use of the men compo- 
sing the army. 

I believe that God is "a 
jealous God" — visiting the in- 
iquities of the fathers upon the 
children to the third and fourth 
generations ; that he will have 
mercy on whom he will have 
mercy, and whom he will he 
hardeneth. 

I believe that God sent 
plagues and suffering among 
the Israelites ; kept them wan- 
dering to and fro in the wil- 



142 QUESTIONS ON THE MYTHS OF MODERN THEOLOGY. 



mercy ; that Ms anger endu- 
reth but for a moment. 



What is the eighth ? 

I believe that G-od is no re- 
specter of persons ; that his 
sun shines upon the just and 
the unjust. 



What is the ninth ? 

I believe that the Old Testa- 
ment is mainly set aside and 
superseded by the New Testa- 
ment (or dispensation) which 
began with the life and preach- 
ing of Jesus ; that the latter 
has repealed the laws of Moses 
to some extent, and introduced 
better and diviner rules of 
faith and practice. 

What is the tenth ? 

I believe that the law of 
" an eye for an eye and a tooth 
for a tooth" can never be har- 
monized with " return not evil 
for evil, but overcome evil with 
good," because the two laws 
belong to different eras of the 
divine administration. 

What is the eleventh ? 

I believe in the command- 
ment which says, "Bless them 
that curse you, do good to them 
that hate you, and pray for them 
which despitefully use and per- 
secute you ; that you may be 



derness for forty years; be- 
cause he was, during all that 
period, angry with that people. 

I believe that God made a 
special selection of certain per- 
sonages — the prophets, wri- 
ters, and apostles — to act as 
his attorneys among the earth's 
inhabitants. 

I believe that the Bible is 
harmonious in all its parts ; 
law with law, prophecy with 
fulfilment, precept with prac- 
tice, cause with effect ; that, 
the rejection of one part is 
tantamount to a repudiation 
of the whole. 



I believe that the true fol- 
lower of Jesus must " resist 
not evil," must love his ene- 
mies with a brother's faithful 
love ; nevertheless, I believe 
that it is always Scriptural to 
"resist the devil" so that he 
shall flee away. 

I believe that those who 
did not love the Lord, but 
who cursed and despitefully 
used him, or disregarded his 
laws, shall, at the close of 
the judgment day, " go away 



QUESTIONS ON THE MYTHS OF MODERN THEOLOGY. 143 



into everlasting punishment," 
be cast into outer darkness 
where shall be weeping and 
gnashing of teeth, for so does 
the good God punish the wick- 
ed and the guilty. 

I believe that it is impossi- 
ble for God to tell a lie ; or do 
aught contrary to the perfec- 
tions of his attributes. 

I believe that there is a hell 
where the spirit of wickedness, 
alone in his glory, prevails and 
rules supreme ; that, therefore, 
there is a portion of infinitude 
where the spirit of an omni- 
present God lives not, because 
it can not enter. 

I believe that the serpent 
was the most wicked and mis- 
chievous of all the beasts of 
the fields which the Lord God 
had made. 

Do you mean to affirm that contradictions and irreconcilable inconsistencies, 
like the above, constitute the popular orthodox creed 1 

Yes ; and several pages might be added of similar incongru- 
ities and monstrosities; taught from the fashionable pulpit; 
taught in the most flourishing Sunday-Schools ; taught as con- 
sistent and soul-saving wisdom. When such elements of faith 
enter the human mind, there is not much room left to noble 
thoughts and great principles. That clergyman is estimated as 
most accomplished, and that layman the most successful for the 
American Tract Society, who is so skilful in handling Scriptu- 
ral texts that no contradictions shall come to the surface, and 
be detected by the common, unskilful thinker. Overflowing 



the children of your Father 
which is in heaven" — for by 
so doing, we but imitate the 
great and good God. 



What is the twelfth ? 

I believe that with God all 
things are possible ; that he is 
omnipotent, and nothing can 
stay his hand. 

What is the thirteenth ? 

I believe that God is a spir- 
it — boundless as infinitude ; 
"living through all life, ex- 
tending through all extent ^'il- 
limitable and everywhere pres- 



What is the fourteenth ? 

I believe that the Lord God 
saw everything that he had 
made, and pronounced it good. 



144 QUESTIONS ON THE MYTHS OF MODERN THEOLOGY. 

with grammatical verbiage, these tract and sermon writers 
almost always succeed in concealing the intrinsic absurdities 
which lurk in their orthodox creed. To the ordinary reader 
of tracts and religious periodicals, the opinions of a Doctor of 
Divinity are seldom questioned. And I would respectfully 
ask: 

What absurdity have the so-styled wise men of the Church not sanctioned? 

Not to mention the multitudinous instances of opposition to 
the several civilizing sciences, of which they are guilty, we will 
present no stronger proof of their propensity toward absurdi- 
ties than that they, as a body, endorse the above peculiarities 
of an orthodox creed. 

When will mankind learn to explain and be enabled to practise the Philosophy 
of Truth ? 

The time hath already come to the individual who, without 
boastfulness, permits his intellectual faculties to perform their 
office. To him the laws of the Universe are unchangeable ; 
harmony reigns triumphant everywhere. Persuaded by the 
never-changing testimonies of Creation that there is a Great 
First Cause — a divine principle of Love and Wisdom — how can 
the human mind be so sadly blinded and misguided as ever to 
adopt the popular pagan theories of heaven or hell ! We make 
(or have made by the confluence of external circumstances for 
us) our heaven and our hell as we journey forward ; they come 
not as arbitrary rewards and punishments, but as inevitable se- 
quences to right and wrong doing. Why not, then, be philo- 
sophical henceforth ; and resolve to act as intuitive Reason 
alone may sanction. 

It is stated in "Nature's Divine Eevelations" (page 547) that the Bible was 
compiled at the Nicene Council; does history give us any proof of this asser- 
tion? 

Just at this time there is no external question more impor- 
tant. And there is, perhaps, nowhere to be found a more con- 
cise, consecutive, and conclusive answer than the following, 
which I submit to the world with undisguised pleasure and 
grateful confidence :* — 

* The reader is supposed to infer from the above language, that the author's 
companion, Mary F. Davis, is the writer of this valuable answer to the Nicene 
Council question. 



QUESTIONS ON THE MYTHS OF MODERN THEOLOGY. 145 

The proceedings at the Council of Nice are, like all events 
in the ancient history of the Church, veiled in obscurity. In- 
deed, a strong desire seemed to possess Eusebius and others 
who were present to conceal its details from the world, or at 
least to clothe the whole affair with the garb of mystery. Thus 
Pappus tells us that the Bishops, having " promiscuously put 
all the Books that were referred to the Council for determina- 
tion, under the communion-table in a church, they besought the 
Lord that the inspired writings might get upon the table, while 
the spurious ones remained underneath, and that it happened 
accordingly." 

This recital is quite in accordance with the usual practices 
of the Church Fathers, who are referred to with so much rev- 
erence by the modern priesthood, but who, if we credit the 
concessions of Dr. Mosheim, were artful, wrangling, and gross- 
ly dishonest men. He declares, in vol. i., p. 198, that " It 
was an almost universally adopted maxim, that it was an act 
of virtue to deceive and lie, when by such means the interests 
of the Church might be promoted." As regards the fifth cen- 
tury, he says : " The simplicity and ignorance of the general- 
ity in those times furnished the most favorable occasion for 
the exercise of frauds ; and the impudence of impostors in 
contriving false miracles, was artfully proportioned to the 
credulity of the vulgar ; while the sagacious and wise, who 
perceived these cheats, were awed into silence by the dangers 
which threatened their lives and fortunes, if they should ex- 
pose the artifice." 

In a translation of Michaelis, the pious and learned Profes- 
sor of Gottingen, by Bishop Marsh, we find the following start- 
ling assertion : " It is a certain fact that several readings, in 
our common text, are nothing more than alterations made by 
Origen, whose authority was so great in the Christian Church, 
that emendations which he proposed, though, as he himself ac- 
knowledged, supported by the evidence of no manuscript, were 
very generally received." Origen was undoubtedly of the 
greatest importance in giving form and permanency to the in- 
stitutions of priestcraft, as he was a man of extensive learn- 
ing, and was very industrious as a writer and compiler. He is 

10 



146 QUESTIONS ON THE MYTHS OF MODERN THEOLOGY. 

said to be the first author who arranged a distinct catalogue 
of the books of the New Testament, which catalogue embraces 
the same as are now admitted into the so-called Sacred Canon, 
excepting James and Jude, and these he owned in other parts 
of his writings. This compilation, which was made about 210 
A. C, served doubtless as a precedent in all subsequent coun- 
cils ; and there is every reason to believe that, to the ingenious 
interpolations and omissions of this ancient savant, the New 
Testament owes whatever it possesses of grace, harmony, and 
historical congruity. Taylor, however, acquaints us with the 
fact, that this same Origen afterward relapsed into Paganism, 
and publicly denied Christ. 

Bishop Faustus, an eminent Christian writer of the fourth 
century, declares that "It is certain the New Testament was 
not written by Christ himself, nor by his apostles, but a long 
while after them, by some unknown persons, who, lest they 
should not be credited when they wrote of affairs they were 
little acquainted with, affixed to their works the names of 
apostles, or of such as were supposed to have been their com- 
panions, asserting that what they had written themselves was 
written according to those persons to whom they ascribed it." 

Scaliger asserts that " The fathers put into their Scriptures 
whatever they thought would serve their purpose ;" and Mos- 
heim, the great Church historian of modern times, tells us, in 
vol. i., p. 109, that the " opinions, or rather the conjectures 
of the learned, concerning the time when the books of the 
New Testament were collected into one volume, as also the 
authors of that collection, are extremely different. This im- 
portant question is attended with great and almost insuperable 
difficulties to us in these later times.' 

In regard to the books of the Old Testament there seems to 
have been equally as much dispute during the first few centu- 
ries ; and many Chronicles, Psalms, Prophecies, etc., were al- 
ternately accepted and rejected by the different councils, amid 
fierce and fiery altercations. 

But while so much doubt attends our investigations in the 
misty labyrinths of ecclesiasticism, many things seem to point 
out the Nicene Council as the one whose decisions were most 



QUESTIONS ON THE MYTHS OF MODERN THEOLOGY. 147 

authoritative respecting " the inspired book." The catalogue 
of Eusebius, who was the most influential and learned among 
the attendant bishops, was exactly the same with the modern 
one ; as was also that of Athanasius, who was his contempo- 
rary. This council is alluded to by both ancient and modern 
Church historians, as " one of the most famous and interesting 
events presented to us in ecclesiastical history," and a univer- 
sal regret is expressed that its acts were not committed to 
writing with more fidelity. It is a well-established fact that 
it was attended by an indefinite number of belligerent parti- 
sans, whose bitter animosity was quelled only by the fiat of 
Constantine. This sanctimonious despot, after presiding over 
the refractory Conclave, and controlling its decisions, finally 
asserted that " what was approved by these bishops could be 
nothing less than the determination of God himself; since 
the Holy Spirit residing in such great and worthy souls, un- 
folded to them the Divine will." (Socrates School Eccl. Hist., 
b. 1, c. 9.) 

Thus we see how flimsy is the foundation on which is based 
the faith of orthodoxy in the plenary inspiration of the- Bible ; 
and also, that while there is much in the ancient records tend- 
ing to corroborate the recital, in u Nature's Divine Revela- 
tions," there is at least no testimony in all those ecclasiastical 
writings by which that statement can be disproved. 

What does the investigating world need in order to get at a reasonable esti- 
mate of the New Testament ? 

In order to disabuse the popular mind of the fancy of the in- 
fallible inspiration of the four gospels, the world needs a work, 
without diminishing regard for their real merits, bringing to- 
gether all the corresponding passages of the four gospels, and 
pointing out their essential agreements and discrepancies in a 
fair and candid manner. Such a production would go far, 
among liberal and thinking minds at least, toward the final so- 
lution of the origin of the gospels, as well as determining the 
spirit in which they were written. 

To what conclusion has a certain truth-searcher come 1 

By pushing investigation* seriously in regard to these books, 

* The reader is referred to an extra-valuable inquiry, and as yet unpublished 
work, by Darius Lyman, jr, of Ohio. 



148 QUESTIONS ON THE MYTHS OF MODERN THEOLOGY. 

he has come to the conclusion that they are all didactic roman- 
ces, designed by good men to inculcate moral principles by aid 
of anecdotes and symbols ; that they were written after the 
second terrible overthrow of Jerusalem, A. D. 131, by men 
who had never seen the person of Jesus, whom they described 
by aid of traditionary transmission ; and the object for which 
they were written is the same as the object of modern Sunday- 
school books, that is, for the moral advancement and religious 
indoctrination of the young catechumens of the church ; and that 
too at a time when (as De Quincey shows, in his essay on the 
Essenes) the Palestine Church had become temporarily a Secret 
Association ; reserving one of its cardinal doctrines — The 
Messiahship of Jesus as a secret mysterion — to be revealed 
only to the initiated : while the other cardinal doctrine — The 
speedy coming' of the kingdom — being esteemed of such uni- 
versal import, was taught without reservation to the people. 

By further investigation, he has also come to the conclusion, 
that the gospel attributed to St. Mark, not precisely as we now 
have it, however, was the original gospel ; that the gospel ac- 
cording to Luke was a copy subsequently taken — an amplifica- 
tion of Mark's ; and that the Matthew-gospel was a copy of 
both Mark's and Luke's, with original additions (by the so- 
called Matthew) of traditionary and genealogical information. 
John's gospel, on the other hand, as there is much evidence to 
show, was written for the catechumens of the Ephesian Church, 
by a presbyter or living elder of that Church, and not by the 
alleged apostle. This Ephesian presbyter — entertaining many 
of the doctrines taught by Plato, and afterward by the Essenes 
— assumed to be an apostle, in order to give a more lively im- 
pression of the supposed divine character of the Nazarene. He, 
therefore, justified himself with the invention of facts in the his- 
tory of Jesus, because his sole purpose was to glorify him, as the 
master of men, and the Son of God. (This view is in part corrob- 
orated by the historical concessions of Dr. Moshiem.) He did 
this with no evil conscieDce on his own part, for it was not his 
purpose to impress upon his young pupils so much what Jesus 
did, as what Jesus was — a magnification of the individual (so 
common to all affectionate and poetic devotees) above the com- 



QUESTIONS ON THE MYTHS OF MODERN THEOLOGY. 149 

mon attributes and ways of the earth's inhabitants. In short, 
the gospels were, as he thinks, the Sunday-school books of the 
early Church ; which sported with the facts of Jesus's real life, 
as our modern religious tales, written by conscientious adhe- 
rents of the Christian Church, revel in pictures and anecdotes 
of lives altogether ideal.* 

In " Nature's Divine Revelations" yon assert that two thousand and forty-eight 
bishops assembled at the Council of Nice, and that Constantine expelled seventeen 
hundred and thirty of these, leaving but three hundred and eighteen to compose 
the Council ; is there any history to support this assertion ? 

" In relation to this statement of Mr. Davis," says G-. Smith, 
" Professor Mahan, in his late work against Spiritualism, on 
page 22, holds the following language : 6 Two thousand and for- 
ty-eight bishops never assembled as members of this Council. 
Nor were seventeen hundred and thirty, nor any other number, 
forcibly excluded by Constantine. All but three hundred and 
eighteen, which did sit as members of the Council, were there 
as mere spectators, on account of the intense interest which 
was universally felt in the question of doctrine to be acted 
upon, and this is a well-known fact in history.' But notwith- 
standing this dogmatic assumption of the Professor, Mr. Davis 
has asserted nothing more than is supported by history. 

" In Dr. Cotton Mather's ' Magnalia Christi Americana,' 
book vii., page 442, is found the following testimony: 'But 
that my reader may also may be prepared for the action of the 
Synod, I would humbly ask him what he thinks of the relation 
given us of the first Nicene Synod by Eutychius, an author of 
the first ages, recommended by Seldon and Pocock as one of 
irreproachable fidelity ? That author, whose history in Ara- 
bic, never seen, I suppose, by Salmasius or Blondel, is by some 
thought, in this matter, much more probable than that of Euse- 
bius and Socrates, does relate unto us that, upon the letters of 
Constantine summoning the Synod, there were no less than two 
thousand and forty-eight bishops who came to town ; but that 
the most of them by far were so grossly ignorant and errone- 
ous that, upon the recommendation of Alexander, Bishop of 

* These suggestive conclusions of Darius Lyman, being the product of a can- 
did investigation, are of the greatest moment to the explorer of theological and 
christological history. I trust the public will call for his valuable work ere long. 



150 QUESTIONS ON THE MYTHS OF MODERN THEOLOGY. 

Alexandria, the Emperor singled out but three hundred and 
eighteen, who were all of them Orthodox children of peace, and 
none of those contentious blades that put out libels of accu- 
sation one against another ; and that by the Emperor's happy 
choosing and weeding of these three hundred and eighteen, the 
Orthodox religion came to be established.' " 

Suppose Harmonial Philosophers shonld resolve to call a Convention of 
Creeds, appealing to the clergy of all denominations, do you believe that these 
gentlemen would, regardless of all selfish considerations and odium theologicum 
which might settle upon their reputations, elect their best minds, to represent the 
cardinal points of each Church ? 

This question I can not now answer ; in fact, I should not 
prejudge the motives of these many-coated brothers ; yet it is 
wisdom respectfully to say — Gentlemen! you may object to 
this public method of discussing these important departments 
of the Christian superstructure. Your archaeological eviden- 
ces, your historical deductions, your classic renderings of the 
original gospels, will fail, you presume to think, to be duly ap- 
preciated by those who might call this Convention. And be- 
sides, you affirm that all honestly skeptical minds can not but 
be persuaded of the miraculous origin, authority, etc., of the 
Old and New Testaments, by reading Dr. Nelson's, or Paley's, 
or Watson's replies and evidences. Nay, good sirs, these 
writers met the question on merely metaphysical and inferential 
grounds ; but the nineteenth century has conveyed the subject 
to a vastly different position, and the battle has now to be 
fought on scientific and positive principles. And there would 
doubtless, be a large number at this Convention, who have 
neither the leisure nor disposition to read your published 
works, or weigh the evidences which gentlemen of your profes- 
sion are supposed capable, ex officio, of presenting to inqui- 
ring minds. Do you think it right to let an opportunity escape 
you of doing good ? A phonographic reporter might be in at- 
tendance to record your argument or defense, and a volume 
may soon spread the pro and con fairly before the people. 
The pride of Protestantism is the right of private judgment 
on politics and religion ; will you not assist to establish still 
firmer this glorious principle ? 

The question before such a Convention is entrenched in sci- 



QUESTIONS ON THE MYTHS OF MODERN THEOLOGY. 151 

entific dual positive principles, which all writers against skepti- 
cism have utterly failed to refute. One need but read atten- 
tively the recent work by Professor Hitchcock, on Geology 
and Scripture, to be convinced of this vital fact. Even Hugh 
Miller (who has made as good a plea in behalf of his theologi- 
cal faith as any clergyman could) says : " It is always perilous 
to under-estimate the strength of an enemy The evan- 
gelistic Churches can not, in consistency with their character, 
or with a due regard to the interests of their people, slight or 
overlook a form of error at once exceedingly plausible and 
consummately dangerous, and which is telling- so widely on soci- 
ety, that one can scarcely travel by railway or in a steamboat, 
or encounter a group of intelligent mechanics, without finding 
decided trace of its ravages." And elsewhere this orthodox 
author boldly affirms that the " clergy, as a class, suffer them- 
selves to linger far in the rear of an intelligent and accom- 
plished laity — a full age behind the requirements of the time. 
Let them not shut their eyes to the danger which is obviously 
coming." Gentlemen, I have but discharged a fragment of 
justice in presenting this matter. It is the nineteenth Century 
— with its New Truths and awakening Rights of Men — that 
invites you to this Convention of Creeds. 



QUESTIONS ON 

THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 



The fundamental religious elements, immanent in man's 
highest faculties, seem, at first glance, to be incompatible with 
deliberate investigation. There are few minds capable of rea- 
soning while prejudiced. Come to that most high and princely 
of all emotions — the religious — and forthwith there departeth 
deliberation, consistency, and vigilance. How few persons 
there are from whom you expect straightforwardness, reasona- 
bleness, charity, temperance in all things. The Modern Church 
exerts a powerful stultifying influence upon the human con- 
science. It has forbidden the conscience to reason, to think, 
to become enlightened. Men may be intelligent concerning 
the ordinary interests of life ; not upon religious questions. JSTo ! 
Men dare not become religiously enlightened. Innumerable 
attempts have been made, with more or less success, to shackle 
the human conscience. 

What is the consequence of such mental bondage ? 

The consequence is, that, while men make advancement in 
science, commerce, merchandise, in all the relations pertaining 
to our common existence, they stand still in the far past ; with- 
out illumination upon whatsoever is religious and ecclesiastical. 
And a vast portion of the world, therefore, have involuntarily 
gone into extreme skepticism on religion. 



154 QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 

How many sources of human knowledge are there ? 

There are four sources of human knowledge : first, Intuition ; 
second, Reflection ; third, Perception ; fourth, Testimony. Two 
are inherent and natural ; two are outside and artificial. The 
reliable sources of knowledge are, Intuition and Reflection; 
the unreliable and secondary are, Perception and Testimony. 
Perhaps, these have never been harmoniously consulted. 

Do the churches refer men to their own inherent sources of knowledge ? 

No ; The Churches have not allowed mankind to rely upon 
inward sources of light and illumination. It is but recently 
that a party, relying upon the inward bosom of truth, has dared 
to stand out and criticise past religions. But they are quickly 
counted. All the religious world, daring not to reason upon 
sacred questions, rests upon Perception and Testimony. Intui- 
tion and Reflection are sources of wisdom ; not consulted by 
fearful churchmen. Perception and Testimony are, in the 
main, the foundation of everything which they believe or hope 
to realize. The religious element overrides all else when it 
has once fairly trammelled the intellect. No other fanaticism 
is more to be feared. Under the afflatus of a religious enthu- 
siasm, man loses all idea of self-preservation, disregards family 
and friends, and plunges, like Peter the Hermit, into the cru- 
sade of fanaticism, never so much as reasoning a moment upon 
the possibilities of self-deception. 

Would it not he a beautiful day when men become illuminated in the religious 
faculties, even as they now are in their social and intellectual departments ? 

Yes ; a beautiful and heavenly day it will be, indeed ! when 
men shall dare universally to exercise Reason concerning the 
great questions of human Life. When men shall see that it is a 
rich privilege and prerogative to reason, then will they become, 
not mere debaters and disputants, but true and serious in- 
quirers concerning man's perpetual continuation. 

Do you make a difference between reasoning and debating ? 

Yes ; Reasoning is very different from debating. Logic is 
no source of plain truth. There is no surer and quicker path to 
Error than this system of logicalization. Sophists commence 
with certain premises and jump at conclusions ; a species of jug- 
glery, of legerdemain. Commence this, my friend, and you 



QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 155 

are on the straight road to self-mistake ; to self-degradation. No 
matter how brilliant your faculties, or how much your logical 
success may go out into the annals of the world, you will possess 
at the end of life a very small residuum of satisfaction. How 
many insincere persons there are who bring merely their 'per- 
ceptive faculties to bear upon the sublimest questions of human 
concern ! When the question of Deity comes in, such try to 
comprehend it with the front part of their heads — and failing, 
begin to doubt, and eventually to repudiate, the Divine existence. 
Such is not reason ; but logic. He alone is altogether reasona- 
ble whose soul is harmonized. Mere logical exercise is a pros- 
titution of the faculties. Intellectual perceptions are designed 
to ascertain the rudiments of all things, to comprehend phenom- 
ena and relations. Reason is the flowering out of all the intel- 
lectual and love principles in man's nature. Reasoning is the 
process; the method, by which the soul gets exercise. Reason 
is the full-blown flower of the spirit ; its fragrance is Love and 
knowledge. 

Has the race made much progress in acquiring knowledge of future existence ? 

No ; men have made but little progress in knowledge con- 
cerning life and immortality. Look through the history of 
Egypt, through that of Greece and Rome, through all Anglo- 
Saxon annals, up to the present time, and you will discover a 
slow increase in the number of evidences. Spiritualism was 
known to the most ancient races ; to the Indians of the East 
and the West. Whole races have rested solely upon external 
sources of knowledge concerning immortality. As soon, how- 
ever, as the intellect gains a predominance, and the conscience 
is liberated from the thraldom of prejudice, then the externally- 
convinced mind begins to reconsider these evidences. At first 
he turns out to be an unhappy skeptic ; at last he is delighted, 
because he sees so clearly that this life is all; and that the 
highest wisdom is to make the best present use of it. 

Do you meet persons who sincerely doubt immortality? 

Yes ; There are persons utterly destitute of any intelligent 
evidences of immortal existence. I have met minds who in- 
herit a repugnance to the idea of an eternal continuation of 
their individuality. Others have ventured, after breaking 



156 QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 

loose from the Church, to read some merely logical authors. 
Becoming persuaded of the eventual annihilation of man's per- 
sonality, they have spoken this doctrine to the world. And 
the Christian Church is accountable for it all. 

How is the Church accountable for this skepticism ? 

It is accountable, because it has for ages denied to Reason 
the right to investigate and decide upon immortality. Thou- 
sands have become externally-minded, in consequence. Such 
have gone out into the senses, and — discovering that animals die 
and that man is only a higher animal — they reject all spiritual 
stories and ghostly anecdotes. These become confirmed, and 
even happy, skeptics ; full of logic, with little reason ; at the 
same time, conscientious and willing to sacrifice themselves for 
their belief. 

But have we not an abundance of positive external evidences 1 

No ; were you to exercise your intellectual faculties, on the 
question of immortality, and ask : " How much positive intellec- 
tual evidence have we ?" you would be surprised at the small 
amount. What appears to be positive and conclusive, turns out, 
at last, to be but inferential and uncertain. For instance : it is al- 
leged in general by the Christian world, that nothing is more cer- 
tain than that Jesus brought life to light ; that his existence was 
the first manifestation of a great and beautiful principle ; that 
his resurrection was a demonstration that all regenerate per- 
sons will one day come up out of their graves, and bask in the 
light of an eternal world. The Church is certain upon this 
point. They say, with Paul, that Jesus was seen after Ms res- 
urrection, by over five hundred persons ; and from the percep- 
tion and testimony of these, it is said, all Christendom should 
believe in life and immortality. 

Well, what effect does this evidence exert upon the thinker ? 

I will explain : The skeptic, who perhaps is learned in logic, 
comes to the analysis of this evidence. He finds that twelve of 
the fourteen have not testified at all to the facts asserted ; and 
that, although the testimony of five hundred persons would, in 
a court of justice, balance off a vast amount of prejudice and 
skepticism, yet such testimony does not appear. It was never 



QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 157 

put into the Bible. Men have the assertion of Paul only ; not 
the testimony of five hundred. It appears to the skeptic, 
therefore, that here is an extraordinary illustration of immor- 
tality with less than ordinary evidence. Believers are now 
driven upon inferential grounds. The Church goes searching 
for what are called " natural evidences" to corroborate the 
affirmations of revealed religion. Historical religion, how- 
ever, brings out several points of evidence. One is, that al- 
most all seers, prophets, and apostles, have testified to the doc- 
trine of immortality ; another is, that this doctrine has been 
believed by all nations. Here, let us ask : — 

Would God have planted in the human soul such a belief, unless there was 
something answering to it ? 

Now, skeptics inquire as to the universality of vast super- 
stitions and great errors. Unfortunately, for the Churches, 
these errors and superstitions are found to run parallel with the 
conviction of immortality ; therefore, the so-called positive evi- 
dences of immortal life, drawn from historical religion, departs 
out of intellectual society. Now cometh the question suggested 
by natural religion, as to the adequacy of the supply for all 
man's needs. Is there not a law of this sort in nature ? Man's 
soul asks for personal immortality ; therefore, he will have it ; 
this is the natural inference. Then arises the question : — 

How do you know but your want is educational, instead of natural ? 

To this question the Church is mute. It has not a word of 
explanation — only says: "You are an infidel, and captious ; 
unable to be fair and Christian." All that such men need, is : 
the substantial and ample testimony that this great and desirable 
doctrine is not a superstition. The skeptic asks : " How shall 
men know when their wants are natural and when artificial — 
when acquired, and when innate ?" Who knows but this de- 
sire for immortality has been implanted by judaistical Chris- 
tians, who received it from sects still more remote ? This doc- 
trine extends back through the Persian into the Egyptian races ; 
and still further even to their primitive ancestors, as is demon- 
strated by the pyramids. But there are superstitions carved 
as plainly as this doctrine of immortality. 



158 QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 

"Would Father-God have implanted Hope in man, unless there was something 
answering to the faculty ? 

Man, I reply, can not be a complete contradiction. The skep- 
tic, however, will ask : " Is a belief in immortality a result of 
the organ, or is the organ a result of the belief? Phrenology 
discovered that the faculty of Hope, like every other organ, is 
capable of cultivation ; that, although innate, it is under the 
jurisdiction of its possessor. On a low scale, this faculty never 
hopes for immortality ; but contents itself with hoping for a 
good day, for a to-morrow, for success in business, for happi- 
ness through life. Sometimes it inspires great heroes and 
small politicians. 

"Hope springs eternal in the human hreast, 
Man never is but always to be blest." 

Hope is considered by the church as the voice of Natural Re- 
ligion, inducing man to think himself a being of the future ; 
that his success, or his failure, is a result of his present efforts. 
The skeptic, however, finding that Hope, in its ordinary nor- 
mal operations, suggests only happiness and success this side of 
the grave, concludes that it does not prove immortality. 
There is, he boldly affirms, no positive evidence on the ques- 
tion. Now, churches cite the testimony of certain ancient 
seers and itinerant prophets ; rejecting, of course, all seers and 
prophets whose history does not come through canonical chan- 
nels. But when a careful analysis is made of t^iis branch of 
evidence, the skeptic pronounces it inadequate and extremely 
inconclusive. Skeptical persons look into the character of the 
old seers and wandering prophets, and wherever there is a spot 
upon it, they will hold it forth to a world's consideration. 
The church, unable to give back a frank and lucid reply, con- 
firms the skeptic yet more in his skepticism. 

Shall we not consider the facts of clairvoyance as good evidence 1 

It was but a few years ago when clairvoyance was presented 
to the American public. It was long ago known in France, in 
Germany ; in certain localities in England. In this country 
it was heard of as a faculty ; but, after all, how few expe- 
rience it ! Most people know of it only through the outward 
sources of perception and testimony. They receive the testi- 



QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 159 

mony of those who have interested themselves in the phenomena. 
And the conclusion is, that clairvoyance — not being a universal 
human experience — is at best but an inferential evidence of 
immortality. 

Have we not positive evidences in the spiritual manifestations "? 

Yes ; one would say that there has been a concert of action 
between mediums and their spirit friends ; to bring out the 
clearest and most unequivocal proofs that man's soul is not ex- 
tinguished by the catastrophe of death. Spiritual manifesta- 
tions, however, are very far from being universal ; they are 
local and special and mostly private. Skeptics say : " There 
are too many things undignified, not addressing man's highest 
nature, and injuring proof which otherwise would be clear and 
indubitable." He who has never seen our Table of Explana- 
tions* stands off and makes this report ; then this report, inval- 
idating our evidence, gets into influential papers, and becomes 
the prevailing conviction of America. Although manifesta- 
tions are now very general, compared with their limitations of 
six years ago, yet the mass is not convinced that immortality 
is not a mere enthusiastic poem, a religious dream ! The 
Church, when required to give answer to a candid man, finds 
itself compelled to be mute, or else to use the old vitupera- 
tions. Should spiritualism become popular, these same church- 
men will ask the material forces of Nature to furnish an ex- 
planation. But spiritual men and women (of the New Dispen- 
sation) have received positive evidences. Without qualification 
they can affirm, that immortality is approved ; that the received 
evidences are sufficient to settle this question. These eviden- 
ces, unfortunately, are not universal ; not accessible at every 
table ; spirits can not act upon every human soul equally ; this 
gives sea-room for immense Doubts of many tons burden. 
Spiritualists have yet to make some discoveries, I think, which 
will address this class of skeptical persons. Teachers of the 
New Dispensation are asked by skeptics to bring forward some 
positive demonstrations ; as lucid to the intellectual faculties 
as any sum done by rules mathematical. (I have responded 

* See a work by the author entitled, " The present Age and Inner Life." 



160 QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 

to this call in a course of lectures, lately delivered, which "will 
probably make the fifth volume of the Great Harmonia.) 

What have you seen and developed on this question of immortality 1 

By intuition and reflection, I have seen that man's immortal- 
ity, to be of any practical service to him, must be felt in his 
religious nature, and not merely understood by his intellectual 
faculties. I have seen it to be possible for every man and 
woman, after coming under spirit culture, to feel through all 
their being this sublime truth : that the perfected human soul 
can never be extinguished ! Evidences which are worth any- 
thing, are not outside — are not in the table-manifestations; 
not in spiritual stories and ghostly anecdotes. True evidences 
come through the two sources, Intuition and Reflection — 
through the inward sources of Wisdom. Each human head 
hath its own evidence. Intuition brings man this treasure in 
advance. Each human being holds a note on the Bank of 
Eternal Life. Individual existence is the endorsement; the 
soul contains the positive proof. The treasures of the future 
world are lodged in us ! If skeptical men could but take 
leisure out of business relations — if they dared to be candid 
and truthful to the inward sources of knowledge — they would 
begin to feel positive evidences of immortality. Spiritual 
manifestations will yet become a hundredfold more' desirable ; 
they will not be sought as evidences of immortality, but as il- 
lustrations only. Let it be known, positively, that a man con- 
tains in himself the power of eternal continuation, and he will 
look naturally for some correspondence with the other world. 
He is not surprised when he gets such communication ; nor is 
he disappointed or skeptical if he should not get it. A person 
who relies upon the external sources of knowledge, insensible 
to the inward fountains, is sure to be swept away when the 
sensuous evidences disappear. Such must have the testimony 
now, and under the best circumstances, else they are distressed 
with irresistible skepticism. 

Does not every externally-minded person suffer somewhat from the absence 
of intuitive knowledge ? 

Externalists realize a mischievous and lurking suspicion, 
that all these so-called positive evidences of future existence 



QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 161 

may be explained eventually by some ordinary principle. Paul 
was mostly in this condition. Every one acquainted with Paul 
as a writer, can see, nevertheless, that he was a man truly re- 
ligious. He undertook to be philosophical upon the question 
of immortality, but his enthusiasm for the life of Jesus, his in- 
dulgence for this branch of the religious sentiment, caused him 
to affirm that man's resurrection from the dead was dependent 
upon the resurrection of that one individual. Man's individu- 
ality was not determined, in Paul's opinion, by any organic 
qualification — he did not argue that man contained the im- 
mortal treasure naturally — but he supposed man to be immor- 
tal in consequence of a miracle : namely, that Jesus was in 
reality raised bodily subsequent to passing through the mysteri- 
ous process of dying. 

This extraordinary manifestation was a matter of testimony ; did Paul ever 
seem to cherish doubts on such evidence of immortality 1 

Paul was frequently very sensitive on the nature of this 
evidence. He would say : "If Christ has not risen, then of 
all men we are most miserable." Often have men read the 
fifteenth chapter of Corinthians, so full of beautiful analogies — 
so full of agricultural arguments and figurative illustrations, 
but, at the same time, so utterly destitute of confidence in 
man's constitutional immortality. " Now, if Christ be preached 
that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there 
is no resurrection of the dead ?" Here he predicates man's 
resurrection entirely upon the traditionary miraculous resurrec- 
tion of Jesus. " If there is no resurrection of the dead, then 
is Christ not risen." Then he turns this rule, makes it to work 
the other way, and says : "If Christ be not risen, then is our 
preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. Yea, and we are 
found false witnesses of God, because ive have testified of God 
that he raised Christ : whom he raised not up, if so be that 
the dead rise not. For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ 
raised : and if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain ; ye are 
yet in your sins. Then they also which are fallen asleep in 
Christ are perished. If in this life only we have hope in 
Christ, we are of all men most miserable." 

11 



162 QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 

What does Paul mean to teach by this language 1 

Paul means to teach that if men consider the life of Jesus 
valuable as an example only, then the whole gospel is worth 
next to nothing. The great matter in view is, the establish- 
ment of man's individual immortality. Although not a phi- 
losopher, Paul undertook, as well as his arduous nature would 
permit, to reason upon the miraculous foundation of his beauti- 
ful religion. Paul afterward says : " How can a thing be 
quickened except it die ?" His philosophy of immortality was 
— that men must first die in order to be raised through the 
miracle ; that we are sown in corruption and raised incorrupti- 
ble ; sown a natural body and raised a spiritual body ; that we 
are sown into the grave first, and then, when the harvest-time 
comes, the spirits who have died down are all raised up. After- 
ward, however, Paul did not think so ; he taught that death 
was not necessary. Let us read him further : " We which are 
alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent 
them which are asleep ; for the Lord himself shall descend 
from heaven with a shout, and the dead in Christ shall rise 
first, then we which are alive, and remain, shall be caught up 
together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air, 
and so shall be ever with the Lord." 

Do you mean to affirm that Paul contradicted his own theory of man's res- 
urrection 1 

Yes : let me prove it. The leading doctrine taught by the 
apostle was, that it is first necessary for every man to be sown 
— to die and be buried — in order to be reaped or raised as 
Christ was ; he taught that Jesus was crucified, placed in the 
grave as one being dead, and rose again in best status, to show 
mankind the dying process which is indispensably necessary for 
all to pass through, in order to secure a resurrection. Yet he 
elsewhere concluded, that " we who are alive" — without passing 
through the dying and burying process which before he described 
as essential — will be " caught up" and live right on just as well. 

Does Paul ever appeal to what you term the internal sources of knowledge ? 

Paul relied for the most part upon miracles, external per- 
ception, and traditionary testimony. He was extremely anx- 
ious to have it established that Christ after his death was seen 



QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 163 

by reliable witnesses. This was necessary first to every man's 
belief ; an idea which Paul would not have valued had he felt 
the principle. Jesus was seen by two on the road to Emmaus ; 
then, by twelve ; then, by five hundred at once ; lastly, spirit- 
ually, by Paul himself. The apostle thought that all the evi- 
dence a man had of life hereafter, was embodied in an incom- 
prehensible miracle ; the physical resurrection of Christ from 
the state of the dead. The skeptic, in view of such reasoning, 
says : " This is an extraordinary demonstration with less than 
ordinary evidence to endorse it." 

How can I believe in immortality upon the testimony of a person whom I have 
never seen ? 

This question represents the position of the skeptic. How 
obviously necessary, therefore, that spiritualists, while inter- 
ested in the excitement of the manifestations, should not fail to 
seek internal evidences of immortality. Axiomatic spiritual 
principles will save skeptics when the manifestations shall have 
ceased. No reasonable mind, one who comprehendeth the 
spiritual law, will believe that these phenomena will continue 
without variableness. The manifestations, as to their variety, 
will gradually retire from the world. Behold ! the seed is be- 
ing sown. Already it is time to prepare to reap the harvest 
of evidences. Let them be garnered into form, and stored into 
the beautiful temple of spirituality. 

Do you mean that spiritual manifestations will become less general ? 

Yes ; this is my irresistible impression. Men must make an 
intelligent use of these manifestations ; else they will go down 
into history as the tricks of itinerant boys and girls. Look 
within, my friend, for that principle which causes all effects in 
the external. When you find an internal conviction that you 
are immortal, which no sophistry can invalidate or disturb, 
then you have found a treasure ; the beauty of which is greatly 
enhanced by spiritual manifestations. Secure this internal 
conviction, first ; then, add the illustrations. In a few brief 
years more — when clairvoyant, healing, impressional, and wri- 
ting mediums only will be known — men will have reaped a 
harvest of evidence. The testimonials of hundreds of thou- 
sands could then be secured. Persons, considered skeptics, 



164 QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 

will read with, earnestness. The Churches will become gradu- 
ally powerless. Skeptical minds will get their questions an- 
swered outside of the Churches. Then the Churches will come 
to you ! Be careful, my friend, lest you forget and go to the 
Churches ; do not be absorbed by them. There is danger in 
becoming too popular ! Beware, when the Churches begin to 
consider it profitable to invite you to take a seat in their beau- 
tiful compartments. Accept this, and you are on the road to 
annihilation. Yea, when the Churches consider spiritualism 
reputable enough to endorse you, then consider that you are 
all on the broad road to certain mischievous prosperity ; an 
easy thriftiness which will turn into conservatism, like all the 
past, and build up institutions against another dispensation. 

Is the spiritual world as solid and as natural as this world 1 

Yes ; I would like to show you how natural and familiar are 
spiritual things. The other world is as natural, astronomically 
considered, as the globe which we now inhabit. The spirit-land 
hath laws, days, nights, stars, suns, firmaments. In that world 
is treasured up, not the artificial facts of earthly society, but all 
the elementary facts of mankind. Commence with the most 
common stones at your feet ; watch them ; see them ascend 
through all the gradations of refinement ; till they become a 
physical part of the vast second sphere ! The finest particles 
of all things, not absorbed by this world, go to form a spiritual 
globe ! Like a zone, on the inside of the vast milky-way, is 
unfolded the second sphere. 

Could you indicate the existence of this spirit- world by any laws visible to 
man's intelligence ? 

Yes ; the existence of a spiritual world is as demonstrable 
as any proposition in astronomical science. All it requires is, 
an intellectual inductive ascension, step by step, through the ma- 
terial evidences that lead to it. Mind can be intellectually led 
to see that there is a spiritual world just as readily as it can be 
taught to perceive that the earth revolves ; a fact of which men 
have no ocular demonstration. There are certain facts in na- 
ture, as tides, as days and nights, as eclipses of the sun and 
moon, which require explanation. The astronomer explains 
all these phenomena by the laws of planetary revolution. And 



QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 165 

you believe. Why ? Because you see that his explanation 
covers all the facts adequately. So, too, there are facts in 
human experience which can not be solved upon any other 
hypothesis save that which admits the existence of spiritual 
globes. The phenomena of human consciousness, the spiritual 
experiences of all races, can be explained, I repeat, only by a 
set of principles which, if legitimately followed out, will lead 
inferentially, analogically, and positively, to the existence of spir- 
itualized worlds. I am persuaded that six nights of continued 
investigation, would make the existence of a spiritual world 
•more valuable and familiar than the golden lands of California. 

Does a belief in this philosophy give happiness to the mind 1 

Yes ; your ordinary affairs, crowned by this philosophy, would 
go on with the greatest possible harmony ; it becomes, more and 
more, a strengthening power to the human soul. To allude to 
my own experience, I would say : It has been a source of inex- 
pressible pleasure (for many years) to live conscientiously in 
reference to spiritual intercourse. Yet, it is not easily ac- 
quired. I have devoted myself to it, studiously and industri- 
ously, as an artist to music ; as a mechanic to the principles of 
his occupation. To succeed in anything, a person must be devo- 
ted. Such has been my effort, and devotion, and success. Some 
of my private personal experiences I tremblingly lay upon the 
altar, that you may see how substantial and replete with con- 
solation are the positive evidences which I have received of 
the existence of a spiritual world. 

It is more than two years ago that Catherine De Wolf, my 
former companion, went to the Spirit Home. On the morning 
of the evening of her departure, her father, her mother, her 
sister, and her nephew — persons who had been in the second 
Sphere several years — together came near to my house in 
Hartford. I have become accustomed to the personal presence 
and spiritual influence of persons : more particularly to the 
sphere of a spiritualized individual. Thus, I felt their spheres 
near the house. I went down to the front door, opened it, and 
invited them up to my studio. As soon as they had entered, 
I closed the studio door, and composed myself for the interior. 
In the course of ten minutes I was lost to all externals ; was 



166 QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 

not aware of possessing a physical nature, nor of being in a 
room ; in fact, I was myself a spirit. Still remaining in my 
body, yet being a spirit, I could see them and hear their 
words. 

Her father said to me : " We have come for our daughter. 
We think she is going to-night ; and we have a special request 
to make of you that, inasmuch as she has been sick for many 
months, and thereby fatigued in spirit as well as in body, she 
be left alone with us, in the spiritual world, for three months ; 
that you do not even desire to see her during that time." 
When I asked why I should not desire, he said : " Your desire 
might reach and rouse her from a required rest ; and she be 
unable to recover as fast as we wish." Therefore, I promised 
that I would not even desire to see her in three months. Her 
spirit relatives said that they would remain in the vicinity till 
she (in spirit) was ready to depart. 

During that day there were some favorable symptoms ; indi- 
cating that she might take nourishment and continue a few days 
longer. But other evidences, toward evening, made it certain 
that she could not longer remain. About twenty minutes past 
seven, that evening, she ceased to breathe. Not being in the 
interior at the time, I did not witness the departure of her spirit. 
In fact, under the circumstances, I had no opportunity for in- 
terior exercises. 

Three months passed, and I heard nothing directly from her ; 
nor indirectly, except from two mediums who supposed they 
had received telegraphic despatches. I had no confidence, 
however, in anything which I did not receive myself. In the 
winter I went to the city of Boston, to give a course of lec- 
tures. At six o'clock in the evening of my first lecture, I felt 
her spiritual approach ; and that she was somewhere within a 
hundred miles of that city. My lecture was duly delivered, and 
I returned to my boarding-house immediately. On going up- 
stairs, I felt she was near. I admitted her by the door, passed 
up the hall, and went into the superior state. She was now by 
my side ; just like any person in the body. She seemed to 
have regained about ten years of youth ; and in appearance she 
was not so large as in her physical body. She looked as if she 






QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 167 

was enjoying her existence ; although she was not as enthusias- 
tic as her nature inclined to generally. We conversed pleas- 
antly ; face to face. She used her new organs of speech, and 
gave me portions of her recent experience. She did not know 
when she would visit me again. I asked her if she came from 
the spirit world alone ; to which she replied, that " she had some 
one near (the house) who would accompany her." The inter- 
view now ended. 

Next, I went to Auburn, to deliver lectures. While there, 
I felt her approach as before. As before I admitted her into 
my room, and we had another conversation. 

When I received her third visit, I was in the city of Hart- 
ford, some five months afterward. On that occasion she 
seemed to have lost about twenty-five years of age ! She was 
very brilliant, and filled with emotion. She said that she had 
" seen so many beautiful things, and enjoyed so much ! " She 
wished to tell me something about a " Sunset" she had wit- 
nessed in the Spirit Home. She promised, at my request, to be 
deliberate in her recital, so that I might take it down in wri- 
ting. While she was standing, with her arm on my shoulder, 
I wrote the communication which follows : I place it before 
the reader solely to give him an impression, that no world is 
more natural than the Second Sphere of human existence. — 

A SUNSET IN THE SPIRIT HOME. 

There are times, my beloved, when I long to speak of my 
new home. 

On the bosom of affection's memory, I voyage back to the 
happy days when we together trod the earth. 

Once, I feared for us both . . now, for both I love and fear 
not. 

Day before yesterday, our family journeyed along the banks 
of the " Mornia" . . a lake flowing westward. 

Accompanied by the dearest ones we know, we ascended the 
great Mount . . south of the lake . . called " Starnos," being 
somewhat fashioned after a solar body. 

And I yearned for thee, beloved . . yet, my spirit was full 
of love . . breathed from those around me. 



168 QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OP IMMORTALITY. 

I find in the air of my new home . . the house of the spirits 
of men . . a something blander, and more pleasant, than in any- 
other atmosphere I ever breathed. . . . There is a joy in it to 

me But there are many here who seem not to remark 

this. . . . And then, our sunsets here ! 

Oh ! I would gaze with you, dear brother, on such a sky as 
glorified this rose-covered spot day before yesterday ! 

We visited the summit of Starnos to witness this exhibi- 
tion. ... It is likely to occur here once in every eight of your 
weeks . . I mean the setting of the sun on this side of the 
Spirit Home. 

I would bring thee a full description. . . . But I have no 
words, beloved ! 

I have looked to see if that was the evening you wrote re 
specting your visit at High-Rock Tower . . it was !* 

Should an artist paint the scene that sunlight gave us, it 
would be said that he had exaggerated the picture. . . . But 
there is no pencil for such delineation. . . . Art has no hues for 
such coloring. . . . Language no powers to reveal . . or, if there 
be words, I feel too much to think them out. 

We had been walking around the Lake. . . . The valley was 
half-viewless and misty with the plenitude of countless odors. 
. . . And the sea of hills, surrounding Starnos, was half hid 
by the rainbow-streams of Beauty that were showered down 
from the sky ! 

At length, we attained the top of this glorious eminence. . . . 
We gazed, with unutterable joy, upon the ever-brightening and 
kindling firmament. 

With us, in company, were many you never knew . . some 
well know and love you . . others you have seen in the earthly 
home. 

My brothers were with us . . and One, whom I will now call 
my " guardian angel" . . and William's Cornelia . . also their 
recently married daughter . . and James, too, with a group of 
his recently-formed acquaintances . . and the blessed four you 
witnessed at High-Rock Tower. 

* High-Eock Tower is described in a work by the author entitled " The Pres- 
ent Age and Inner Life. 






QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 169 

I sought your hand . . I found the memory of your spirit 
near. 

I breathed . . and, the breath I drew was of Life eternal. 

And there was no void of existence. . . . Although you did 
not hold my hand nor administer unto me, yet the fullness of 
my happiness was all permanent . . all heavenly. 

And that sky above us It was even more beautiful in 

the east than in the west. . . . Such a mass of burnished gold. 
. . . Yet, not all gold . . for here and there a silver edge un- 
rolled . . disclosing the azure sky. 

I would that you had seen it, my brother. ... I can not tell 
thee of the scene. ... I can now close my eyes . . and, looking 
in memory, can see it all again. 

There was a glorious cloud . . all clouds are glorious, my 
brother . . which reflected a far-spreading light upon the sea 
of hills and the lake below. . . . And Mornia, in consequence, 
looked like a miniature ocean of liquid gold. . . . The cloud 
assumed a ruby hue. . . . And, then, the fair flowing Mornia 
looked like a sea of blood. . . . The light thrown upon the op- 
posite shore, was like a sunny gauze cast over the landscape's 
emerald green. . . . And the remote habitations of the " Broth- 
erhood of Morlassia" . . the groves of meditation . . appeared 
as a great City illuminated. . . . And the environing fields, 
receiving the crimsoned light, looked like a World on Fire ! 

We gazed . . and gazed . . and, the sun went down. . . . The 
lights opposite were put out. . . . And the fair flowing Mornia 
darkened. . . . And the cloud was first a silver gray . . then 
dark. . . . 'Twas night in the Spirit Home ! 

This is the first time my eyes . . divested of all mortal cor- 
ruption . . ever gazed upon the sunset. 

And I feel that I can no more forget it than I could the event 
of my new birth here. 

Of this, beloved brother, I will hereafter speak. 

Our party now descended the rose-covered Mount . . wend- 
ing our way amid green-hilled groves . . serenaded by the 
birds of the twilight hour. . . . And, as we stepped from spot to 
spot, I thought of the glories you had taught me to see with 
my understanding. . . . Seeing the Father as I now do, I must 



170 QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 

worship Him in Love. ... In spirit and in truth I must wor 
ship Him ! 
Beloved brother, how magnificent is the Temple in which 

WE DWELL AND WORSHIP! 



HOW DO SPIRITS WALK ON THE INVISIBLE ADR ( 

To A. J. Davis: — Yery dear Sir: It is not saying too 
much to state that I have derived more pleasure in reading 
your works than all other religious authors, ancient and mod- 
ern. This is because I have thought that you furnished more 
philosophical evidence of the soul's immortality than all other 
writers, " inspired" or profane. But, my dear sir, if there are 
some things which do not admit of an easy explanation, you 
will not think me unreasonable in demanding one of you. In 
your " Philosophy of Spiritual Intercourse," p. 100, you give 
an interesting account of a " congregation of friendly spirits 
who from a distance of eighty miles directed a mighty column of 
vital electricity and magnetism, which current, penetrating all 
intermediate substances, passed through the roof and walls of 
the apartment where we were seated, and there, by a process 
of infiltration, entered the fine particles of matter which com- 
posed the table, and raised it several successive times three or 
four feet from the floor." Now, sir, this would seem very pos- 
sible were it not that they were above the earth's atmosphere, 
consequently could not partake of its motions. Now, as long 
as they maintained their relative position to your little circle 
in Bridgeport, they had to travel at the rate of something over 
five hundred miles per hour from west to east, to correspond 
with the earth's rotary motion ; then add to that the rate of sixty- 
eight thousand miles per hour in the same direction, which would 
be necessary in order to keep up with the earth's annular motion, 
and the spirits must move at the rate of sixty-eight thousand 
five hundred miles per hour ! If I am not right, I am nearly 
so. Now, sir, this seems to me to be an unattainable speed, 
after being told, on page 141, that " the gentleman closed the 
door rather too quickly behind him to admit the passage of the 
spirits of Solon and Pisistratus." 



QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 171 

Again, what seems to make it a thing incredible is, you tell 
us, page 151, that " a stratum of atmosphere, more or less 
dense, is necessary for the spiritual organism to walk or stand 
upon." Now if an atmosphere is so rarified as to admit the 
feet of James Victor Wilson to within eighteen inches of the 
floor, and not dense enough for the spirits of Solon and Fisis- 
tratus to go in at the door, while a spirit in the body could go 
in, how could that " large congregation of spirits" maintain 
their distance of eighty miles from the circle in Bridgeport for 
a moment, and that too without the earth's atmosphere to stand 
or walk upon ? One might suppose that they had rather poor 
foot-hold to run at that rate. 

Sir, these inquiries are prompted by no spirit of captious- 
ness ; but rather in the hope that you will give them a rational 
solution. They are made by one who hungers for evidence of 
his immortality — evidence which he has never been able to get 
a morsel of from the pulpit, and which he hopes to get alone 
from the sensuous manifestations which are claimed to be given 
daily in our country. 

I am, sir, very respectfully, An Anxious Inquirer. 

Wilmington, Mass., Oct. 3, 1855. 

THE QUESTION ANSWERED BY A. J. DAVIS. 

To An Anxious Inquirer: Your letter addressed to me 
contains questions of moment, especially so to all who seek to 
establish the immortality of the soul by and through scientific 
facts and philosophical principles. The imaginative poet, the 
cultured sentimentalist, finds no difficulty where you do ; yet 
such persons — although perhaps satisfied of the soul's inde- 
structibility and endless growth in love and wisdom — can 
never remove, what thinkers consider, philosophic objections to 
the possibility of man's continued existence in other worlds. 

Your mind seems to be impressed — perhaps, I should say, 
oppressed — with two physical conditions which militate against 
my spiritual disclosures — first, " velocity :" — second, "den- 
sity." In reply, I am admonished to be brief, but my explana- 
tion, I trust, will not be obscure in consequence. 

Electricity of immensity is different from that which is so 



172 QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 

called on this globe. It is the same, essentially with ours ; 
yet, as I have often said, it is different, because finer and semi- 
spiritual. This element thus spiritualized, is omnipresent. Its 
operation is everywhere the same — unbroken, unshorn, indis- 
soluble. It is a positive imponderable reality, which, because 
of certain functions performed by it in the various sections of 
the material creation, I sometimes term, " Magnetism." The 
schools have as yet no reliable intelligence, free from conjecture, 
concerning this beautiful agent of boundless influence. Like 
the Divine Spirit which vitalizes it — it is shoreless, track- 
less, pathless, independent. It never departs from certain 
principles of uniform action, local and general. 

Please, my esteemed Inquirer, remember the foregoing as the 
fundamentalism — on which, as I think, all your inquiries may 
find an adequate solution. 

You can not understand how the spirits, over the Bridgeport 
circle, could " maintain their relative position" to that circle, 
unless they moved, in harmony with earth's rotary motion, at 
the frightful rate of sixty-eight thousand five hundred miles per 
hour. I will endeavor to explain : 

Electricity, being an omnipresent principle, is the medium 
through which spirits see and act upon physical objects. This 
element penetrates and permeates every physical substance ; 
so that an object on the side of the earth, in it, or on the 
opposite side, would be as clearly seen, and could be as easily 
acted upon, as if it was on that side nearest the spiritual 
congregation. The congregated and operating spirits, there- 
fore, have no need of changing their position in order to see 
and act upon terrestrial objects. Next, you inquire : 

How can you explain the problem of density 1 

The question of " density" is here easily answered. It is 
only when spirits approach the earth's surface that this peculi- 
arity is noticeable — that is, the necessity of some eighteen 
inches of nether air as a floor on which to walk or stand sus- 
tained. Solon and Pisistratus did not enter the door. Why 
not ? Because, as I originally explained, the haste with which 
a gentleman closed it, rendered their ingression inconvenient, 
if not naturally impossible. 



QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 173 

Do you mean to teach that spirits are unlike earthly beings with reference to 
the laws of gravitation 1 

No ; I do not mean to teach such doctrine, but, on the con- 
trary, that spirits are regulated by laws which govern men. 
That spirits have as much power as we possess to triumph over 
atmospheric and gravitational conditions — to overcome the 
laws of friction and comparative inertia (which is accomplished 
each step we take on the bosom of matter) — must be almost 
self-evident to every careful student of the Harmonial Philoso- 
phy. This philosophy provides for all such considerations, by 
teaching the universality of an element upon which will can 
extensively act with surprising exactitude. By reference to 
the " Vision at High Rock," dear Inquirer, you will observe 
the immense Congress above the earth, sustained by atmo- 
spheric stratifications — far less dense than those near the 
globe's surface. I questioned the possibility at the time, but 
was referred, as you may remember, to the existence of far 
heavier bodies sustained by air-fioors still more remote. Upon 
further research, I was forced to a conclusion that " the laws 
of gravitation" are not yet comprehended. For example : 
birds, weighing from three to twelve pounds, ascend through 
dense strata of air, and move easily in rarer mediums — such 
as wild ducks, geese, and eagles ; and all this is done by will, 
operating upon voluntary muscles — for, as evidence, should a 
bird suddenly close its wings mid-air, it would fall to earth 
like a stone or any other involuntary body. 

Now, while it is true that spirits have no wings, yet do they 
conform to certain laws of gravitation (not yet understood by 
mankind), and thereby ascend to any height and travel to re- 
motest populated globes. This is usually accomplished by con- 
forming to the " rivers" of magnetism and electricity which 
flow, with great swiftness, between all inhabited planets and 
the contiguous margin of the Spirit Land. (See "Present 
Age and Inner Life.") Hoping that you will continue the 
investigation of scientific spiritualism, and be thereby advanced 
to all happiness and important truth, I subscribe myself, 

Your friend, A. J. Davis. 

Brooklyn, Oct. 13, 1855. 



174 QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 

Can you familiarize the life and society of the Spirit Land yet more to the com- 
mon understanding ? 

My impression is, notwithstanding the private nature of the 
words imparted, that I can not familiarize the social facts of 
the Second Sphere to denizens of earth, unless I introduce the 
following narrative, which, with much more, was given in a 
conversation between my former companion and myself; on 
the night of the 15th, and the morning of the 16th, of August, 
1854. Three or four days previous to her visit, I felt, in 
certain unoccupied moments, her approach. During the eve- 
ning I had been out walking on " Lord's hill," in the city of 
Hartford, Conn. As I was returning, she joined me about a 
dozen rods from the residence of William Green, jr., whose 
house was then my home. She came home with me — accom- 
panied by her sister, three brothers, and her " guardian angel," 
as she termed her most cherished associate. They all came 
together into my room. And, while the party entertained 
themselves in conversation concerning the diagrams, &c, which 
were hanging on the wall, we (Catherine and I) began a famil- 
iar conversation which continued for nearly two hours. 

This is the seventh visit to me since her spiritual departure. 
From her first, which occurred in Boston, I remarked that she 
gave me only the fraternal recognition. 

To her esteemed friends and acquaintances it may be grati- 
fying to know somewhat of her personal appearance. She now 
appears to be about fifteen years of age — is very enthusiastic 
and brilliant — and yet, has a depth of expression which indi- 
cates strength of character as well as intellectual acumen. 
Usually she stands by my side, with her arm resting upon my 
shoulder ; or else, moving her hand lovingly and tenderly 
over and upon my forehead. 

Her dress differs considerably from those with her and other 
female spirits, except her guardian angel's dress, which resem- 
bled her habiliments closely ; whose appearance is also bril- 
liant, and whose expression is fraught with much sweetness 
and energy. Blue, white, and a light crimson hue, entered 
into the colors of her simple garb, which, like the finest 
gossamer fabric, crossed over her neck, the same on her back 



QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 175 

as on her breast, confined at the waist with a silver-white 
girdle, and falling thence gracefully down over the hips, and 
terminating within two inches of the bend of the knee. Her 
arms were proportionally covered with the same garment. This 
dress was, as I observed, only one piece.* Above any earthly 
fashion, it is best adapted to please the most cultivated taste, 
and display the grace and beauty of the female form. Although 
this beautiful habiliment concealed her person in particular, yet 
the general outline of her symmetrical form was visible — re- 
sembling a soft snowy shadow — through a fine web of light. 

I have written out the result of our conversation, nearly ver- 
batim, from my immediate recollection : — 

" My Guide ! my Protector ! my all of life on earth ! I did not 
speak yesterday to thee . . nor last night as I longed to do . . 
but nearly all my thoughts were of thee. 

" Thou hast led me to the mountain where I behold my joys 
. . from whose blessed height my spirit looks forth on the world 
where once I strayed . . and, in the fullness of my present hap- 
piness, my heart's tongue speaks recall to the sad wanderers 
there. . . . My grateful soul addresses them . . I can tell of 
happiness . . I am happy now . . Oh, so happy ! . . . Who again 
can find such joy as I have found? . . . Can any other soul be 
wedded to its guardian angel ? . . . Yes, this may be ! . . . God's 
Kingdom comes. . . . And, it seems to my joyous soul that mine 
is the happiest . . yes, the happiest . . for who can feel so happy 
as I? . . . Who can be so blest ? . . . Who can love like me ? . . . 
And, where is another so worthy to be loved . . another such 
guardian angel?" 

Then I asked her this question : " Katie, while with me, you 
frequently said you could not live without me — why can you 
now feel so happy away from me?" 

" Brother beloved 1" she replied, " I will tell you all. . . . 
Many days after my arrival at my father's Pavilion . . situated 
on a beautiful eminence from whose summit we can see the 

* The purest spirits are not clad in artificial dress. The spiritual garments are 
not manufactured in the Second Sphere, but, as I have observed many times, are 
"imported," so to speak, from factories on neighboring physical planets. The 
same is true of certain birds which animate the Spirit-Land. 



17 G QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMOETALITY. 

Seven Lakes of Cylosimar . . I could see no beauty, feel no life, 
believe in no Immortality, without the personal presence and 
constant companionship of my only earthly guide. . . . ' Without 
him,' I said, ' I can see no Father . . realize no Heaven . . 
without him, I can not be comforted.' . . . Even in my dear 
mother's smile . . in the holy loving touch of my beloved father . . 
in the soothing music of my dear sister's love . . from Marcus's 
gleeful words . . I could gather no relief . . I would have only 
thee. . . . But, unexpectedly, one day I was quieted by the 
the sound of a voice, so like thine, that I started . . all trem- 
bling, all tearful, and overjoyed . . to meet thee so soon in my 
father's Pavilion. ... I looked in every direction . . I saw no 
one near. . . . Presently, I saw . . just by the door, and stand- 
ing close to Cornelia's* side . . one so like thee that I flew into 
his open soul! . . . 'Are you my Jackson's brother ?' I asked. 
. . . With deep sweetness, and a look of love, he replied . . 
' You shall know me soon.' 

" But I could not wait . . no, not a moment . . suspense is 
such torture. . . . And yet, how easily I did compose myself at 
his request. 

" He departed from my sight. . . . But I felt, how beautiful 
is Love. . . . My spirit sought him as if 'twere thee. ... I felt 
he could tell me of thee . . even, if he were not in reality thy 
prototype . . thy real brother and counter-image. 

" But of this all, my own dear friends would reveal nothing 
. . to my questionings, replying only that in future I should 
see him more." 

Here I interposed this question : " Katie, did this occur be- 
fore your first visit to me in Boston ?" 

" Yes, dearest brother," she replied, " I had not seen thee 
. . neither did I know how to find thee. . . . Every day I would 
impatiently ask for thee, or for thy brother] whom I had seen. 
. . . And then I walked a little. . . . Environing beauty, of 
which I was often told, was all dead to me. ... I could only 
think of thee. . . . Through the love of thy soul only I could 

* " Cornelia" I understood to mean the ascended wife of William Green, jr. 
t When she spoke thus I supposed she had seen the only natural brother I 
ever had, whose name was " Sylvanus." 



QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 177 

gaze upon the spirit home. . . . Without a consciousness of your 
presence, I could see no charm in existence . . no loveliness or 
grandeur in all that lay spread out before my father's Pavil- 
ion. ... Oh, 1 so longed for thee. . . . Most passionately my 
soul did yearn for thee . . or, for the one I had so fondly em- 
braced . . because I felt that he alone of all others in my fa- 
ther's house could see thee and love thee, and appreciate all 
my love for thee, while on the earth. 

" Dearest brother, i how can I stay from thee V . . I would 
exclaim . . ' How wait thy coming ? . . so long a time, perhaps 
. . How can I wait ? . . Thou art not here. . . . 

" But I see thy room, and the sweet couch there ! 
Thy table too, and the dear writing-chair, 
The birds they seem to sing, and flowers look fair, 
And that which makes it heaven, I see truth there. 

" ' Could I not better bear this separation,' I asked my fa- 
ther . . ' had I not been personally with Jackson ?'.... I be- 
gan to doubt the wisdom of it . . so intensely did I feel your 
absence. . . . And yet, I would not but have been with him . . I 
was so happy for it . . it makes me happy now. . . . Memory 
brings thought, and love awakens feelings, which carry me back 
to our first meeting . . and to the cottage parlor, too, wherein I 
was so blest. . . . Each day the same fond memories would com- 
mand my soul's attention . . yea, a thousand times. . . . And yet, 
at times, I was confused between thee and thy brother . . I knew 
not which I wished most to gaze upon . . for so I loved all that 
was related to and resembled thee. i 

" As my strength strengthened . . as my youthfulness re- 
turned . . I could not realize at times your absence . . neither 
at times that we had ever met. . . . My existence with thee be- 
gan to fade out . . I remembered only our first acquaintance . . 
when I dared not to think of closer nearness. 

" But I know we have met. . . . Upon me the deathless rec- 
ord is made . . all here can read it. . . . My soul has expand- 
ed . . the mortal vestment confines it not . . and, in all I have 
of heaven, I see thy work upon my nature. . . . Yes, my Guide 
. . my best earthly friend . . my only earthly protector. . . . 

12 



178 QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 

Yes, thy lessons are not lost. . . . Thy spirit-sister's being has 
received them all . . all . . and, they shall live in her eternal 
life. . . . They shall embellish her existence here, while they 
still prepare her spirit for higher homes and purer heavens. . 
. . Thanks . . thanks . . for thy gentle patience. . . . How 
sweetly thou hast led me. . . . My ever-grateful soul remembers 
all . . all . . and, my spirit ceases to be rebellious, when, as 
now, it senses the chastity and liberty of the Father's Love and 
Wisdom ! 

" One morning my dear father came to me, and said : 
' Daughter, Arise, go out upon the hills with us . . for thither 
goeth thy Guardian Angel.' 

" We prepared . . we went out upon the hills. . . . The 
Seven Lakes of Cylosimar . . disposed at regular distances, 
forming a crescent-shaped curve, amid the overfolding margins 
and beneath the far-off lofty heavens . . appeared like the set- 
ting of brilliant diamonds. ... In all directions, distributed 
through the landscape, were many groups of beautiful trees . . 
so beautiful, and so green . . uplifting their emerald boughs at 
least a thousand feet above the surface of the Lakes. . . . And 
I flew . . to my Jackson's brother 

" ' Are you not my own Jackson's brother ?' . . I asked . . 
6 1 am his brother' . . he replied . . ' and, together, we will visit 
him!' 

Here, I inquired : " Katie, did all this occur before your 
first visit to me ?" (She had been gone from earth nearly 
four months ere I received anything from her.) 

" Yes, my own brother . . all this was before I knew where 
you were . . before I knew how I could ever find the way to 
the earth again. . . . He told me in beautiful language of your 
mission . . what he knew of your teachings. . . . For all this I 
loved him very tenderly. . . . ' Thou hast loved well' . . he said 
to me . . ' but I will teach thee wisdom.' . . . ' Thou shalt teach 
me love.' . . . ' This world is all love. . . . Unto it the Father 
hath his love imparted . . the love which knows no recall, no 
weariness, no change . . illimitable . . infinite . . eternal.' . . . 
He bade me to see in him my Guardian Angel. . . . But al- 
ready, before he granted me this holy blessing, my heart had 



QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 179 

named him thus. . . . Yes, he is my Guardian Angel . . and 
more . . I love him. . . I do not fear to love, with all my heart, 
with all my strength, with all my mind, with all my soul. . . . 
God is no ' Jealous God' . . as error hath taught . . enslaving 
love. . . . Truth hath no chains for the soul . . and, freely lov- 
ing, I worship God. . . . My love I draw from an inexhaustible 
treasury . . heaven is our exchequer . . boundless are our 
riches . . unfathomable the deep fount of Love, whence flows 
all our wealth. . . . Infinite the beneficence of Him who giveth 
to us. . . . "We will repay him by loving one another !" 

(Here Katie remarked that she would now retire with the 
party, to return early on the following morning. She said she 
was going to visit the beloved members of her family still on 
earth, also several of our mutual acquaintances, but would say 
more to me ere she left for the Spirit Home. Accordingly, 
on Wednesday morning, at four o'clock, she awoke me by an 
influence which came through the walls, like a breath. Feel- 
ing which I arose, dressed myself, went down to the front door, 
and found there the entire party as before. Each refused to 
come- in, save Katie — who accompanied me up-stairs — and, 
resting her hand upon my shoulder affectionately, she said :) 

" In a few days, my own dear brother . . we all depart for 
the Northern Section of the Spirit Home." 

Hearing this I inquired : " How far is that Section from 
where your father resides — from his Pavilion ?" 

" Many billions of millions of miles," she replied. 

" Why," I asked, " do you go so far away ?" 

" To see new societies and different scenery," she returned, 
" and besides, my father and my Guardian, and many 
others, have something to do thither. . . . We go, because 
lovers are never separated here either by space or circum- 
stances." 

" Will you tell me the name of my brother ?" I asked. 

" My Guardian Angel is not your physical brother . . his 
name is Cyloneos."* 

" His name is almost like mine" — I said. 

* She pronounced it thus : Cy-lone-os — meaning the Morning's Kay. 



180 QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 

Yes," she replied ; " because you both belong, by charac- 
ter, to the same Brotherhood. My name — " she continued, 
speaking of herself — "is Cylonia;* and yours is ' Silonius' — 
as you used to write it." 

" Does the soul of Cyloneos fill yours as fully as sometimes 
you used to say mine did ?" I asked. 

" Without him, my brother, I feel that I could not exist — 
even in the midst of all this Heaven ! He is to me another 
Jackson. I love him — because I have so loved you — because 
he gives what my soul ceaselessly yearns for — I. love him, be- 
cause — I can not help it! Out of his abundant wisdom, he 
promised me that your mission will go on without me. He has 
let me into the benefits of my earth-life . . exhibits it all, its 
lights and its shades, its storms and its simshine . . has made me 
see plainly that I came to him from you as a gift. My soul 
senses the truth of all he says, with deepest gratitude. . . . £ I 
not only know,' he tells me, ' the jewel the Father placed on 
earth for me, but also where and how I must wear it.' Oh, I am 
so happy in the knowledge of thy power to go on, unmoved 
and unchanged, with thy mission without me. In this thought, 
too, I find rest and heaven. Soul calleth unto soul, and each 
answer eth the other. My love uttereth its voice, and lifteth up 
its hands on high, in worshipful gratitude for the undivided 
possession of my Angel's love, which, in all the things of my 
life, is abundant — making more and more visible the glory 

and greatness a,nd goodness of our Heavenly Father !" 

******** 

Thus, ended our seventh interview. Besides those recorded, 
I asked her a multitude of questions which I do not feel free 
to publish. I asked her — " if I understood her?" She ob- 
served my thoughts, and replied in the affirmative. She could 
not tell exactly when she, with the large party of friends, 
would return from the Northern Section. 

In closing let me remark that, previous to her marriage with 
the wise and beautiful " Cyloneos" of the Brotherhood of Mor- 
lassia, I had made deep excursions into the very interior ter- 

* She says her spiritual name " Sy-h-nia," means the "Morning's Bride." 






QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 181 

ritories of conjugal science.* From my discoveries in refer- 
ence to temperamental harmonies — that only certain combi- 
nations can eternally cling to each other — I had concluded, 
although the relation subsisting between us was temporarily 
wise and fraternally beneficial, that it could not extend be- 
yond the tomb and be crowned with the Harmonial perpetuity. 
Therefore her narrative, although it had at first somewhat of 
sadness in it, did not surprise me. And now, as I remember 
her withdrawal from earth — sustained and enraptured by the 
strong embrace of her real conjugal Companion — my soul can 
utter but one affectionate sentence, a true farewell blessing — 
" Progress, and be happy !" 

******** 

• Astounding contrast ! My vision has closed upon the spir- 
itual ; the curtain has dropped ; my condition is no longer 
superior. Exhausted by mental activity, and feeling the need 
of air and exercise, I go out through the public streets. 
I meet familiar faces ; we smile, and quickly separate. My 
feet tread the brick pavement with rapid succession. The 
gate of the North Cemetery is open. I walk quietly through 
its shady avenues. The ground is wet from recent rain ; the 
grass glistens in the sun-ray ; the trees drip moisture. This 
silent place is suggestive ; at once of Death and of Life. 
Against the new iron fence I am leaning. Overhanging boughs 
cast a veil of thin shade upon the Siberian Hedge. Beneath 
this pale shadow the earth is gracefully raised. Here are visi- 
ble a few violets, white lilies, and some mignonette. Here, 
too, stands a pale record by one of her cherished relatives — a 
snow-white stone on which are written these mutually signifi- 
cant words — " My sister." 

******** 

What is the phenomenon of death to the worldly-minded ? 

To the worldly-minded, the fatal certainty of death is draped 
in darkness ; to such persons the elements of change and alter- 
ation pervade all external nature. Mutability and wayward- 
ness characterize every form and substance which man's bodily 

* The reader is referred to the fourth volume of the Harmonia — " The Re- 
former" — which contains the author's impressions on this question. 



182 QUESTIONS OX THE EVIDENCES "OP IMMOSTAUTY. 

senses can recognise. A birth — a fleeting existence — a certain 
decay — each following the other in rapid succession. To exter- 
nal observation everything is changing constantly — from bud- 
ding infancy to blushing youth — from blossoming maturity to 
decrepit waning and passing away — from a state of life to a 
state of death. A few hours since, the east was radiant with 
the newly-arisen sun ; now, it shines in the zenith ; a few more 
fleeting hours, and the bright orb is gone, and nature is dressed 
in the sad and sable habits of night, and darkness drapes the 
world. 

Such may be death to the ungodly and unsanctified ; but is it not a more bles- 
sed fact to the Bible-believer ? 

rvo ; the worldly-minded and the receiver of ancient myths 
are equally terrified by the mystery of death. Jeremy Taylor, 
the eloquent dignitary of the Church, says : " Man is a bubble. 
He is born in vanity and sin ; he comes into the world like 
morning mushrooms, soon thrusting their heads into the air, 
and conversing with their kindred of the same production, and 
as soon they turn into dust and forgetfulness ; some of them 
without any other interests in the affairs of this world, but that 
they made their parents a little glad and very sorrowful." And 
again, the same ecclesiastical teacher and excellent writer 
says : " So I have seen a rose newly springing from the clefts 
of its hood, and at first it was as fair as the morning, and full 
with the dew of Heaven as the lamb's fleece ; but when a ruder 
breath had forced open its virgin modesty, and dismantled its 
too youthful and unripe retirements, it began to put on dark- 
ness, and decline to softness and the symptoms of a sickly age ; 
it bowed its head, and broke its stalk, and at night, having lost 
some of its leaves, and all its beauty, it fell into the portion of 
weeds and out-worn faces. So does the fairest beauty change, 
and it will be as bad with you and me ; and then what servants 
shall we have to wait upon us in the grave ? what friends to 
visit us ? what officious people to cleanse away the moist and 
unwholesome cloud reflected upon our faces from the sides of 
the weeping vaults, which are the longest weepers at our fune- 
rals ?" Thus have spoken to us the ministers who should pro- 
claim " glad tidings ;" thus has the Church led us to the char- 



QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 183 

nel-liouse — till its gloom is impressed upon our minds with 
awful blackness, and earth becomes as a sepulchre for ever 
yawning beneath our tread — where we walk in gloom, led on 
by popular theology, whose best consolations are cold, repel- 
ling, unspiritual. 

But are there not some redemptive elements in the Church system of consola- 
lation ? 

Yes ; there are some elements of faith and hope — some 
sparks of truth illuminating the darkness — which may preserve 
the Bible-believer from utter despair, and soften the anguish 
of the bereft. But to the clear, philosophical understanding, 
there are neither consolations nor wholesome elements in the 
various systems of religious faith which are now recognised in 
the world. 

What is it that produces so great a change in man's conceptions of life and 
death — of the present and the future ? 

This is not the place fully to answer this question, but it may 
be well to remark, that the discovery of the existence of inte- 
rior senses in the human mind (termed clairvoyance), was the 
beginning cause of progress in this new region of thought. And 
subsequent research and meditation has diffused a clear and 
enthusiastic joy over the entire being of many — imparting that 
serenity of mind, untinctured with fanaticism, which so beauti- 
fully characterizes the truly harmonial man. 

Can you explain how the " interios reuses" act, superior to the bodily organs, 
in bringing to light the fact of immortality % 

Yes ; the interior clairvoyant senses can gaze upon higher 
worlds, and reveal new worlds within the one we at present 
dwell upon. These senses address man's inward sources of 
knowledge ; they speak to his Intuition and Reason. As the 
microscopic and telescopic worlds are hidden, in their prismatic 
splendors and awful magnitudes, from the powers and pene- 
trations of man's corporeal senses ; so, from the same lim- 
ited vision, are concealed the stupendous magnificence of the 
spiritual universe, and the kindling skies and indescribable 
beauties of the eternal spheres. But, to the interior senses, all 
these worlds are visible. Men, and things, and planets, and 
angels, and future existence, and the vital laws of Father-God 



184 QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 

— all, appear in that consistent order and philosophic precision 
which distinguish the truth from the dark chaos of mythic The- 
ology. To the interior senses, the changes of Mother-Nature 
are indications of the ceaseless operations of unchangeable 
principles — steps from lower to higher — from matter to spirit. 
A birth, a fleeting existence, a death — these are manifestations 
of the beautiful Laws of progression and development. When 
the fair foliage with which summer adorns the forests, and 
the flowers which garnish earth, are changed — tinted by the 
breath of the rude autumnal winds — and when the blushing rose 
and the modest violet shed their leaves upon the frost-covered 
ground, then the philosophic heart is not saddened. These ob- 
vious changes diffuse no melancholy vapor over the healthy 
mind. They mean that a brief period of rest has arrived pre 
paratory to the resurrection of kindred elements in higher 
forms and other essences ; to unfold, if possible, a still more 
lovely spring and a sweeter summer, when Mother-Nature's do- 
main will again be decked with high-raised foliage and beauti- 
ful garlands. 

Does the harmonial philosopher find his consolations in objective existence ? 

No ; and yet the true philosopher sees, in every outward pro- 
cess and object, a form of internal truth which is full of unfail- 
ing consolation. For example : the sun absorbs its far-spread- 
ing radiance, and disappears behind the western hills, and a 
dark curtain is drawn over the earth ; but, lo ! the darkness 
reveals innumerable stars. These royal orbs — robed in gar- 
ments of essential light, and controlling, like mighty gods, the 
many planets which traverse the boundless domain of solar sys- 
tems — are visible only when the sun is unseen. Its light is 
gone out, yet there is no darkness, no death, no funeral. Al- 
though the clouds may temporarily conceal the distant orbs 
from our view, and a sad gloom settles upon our minds, and 
a dreamy slumber succeeds it, yet ere we awake, the sun 
is already arisen in the east, tinging the distant clouds with 
auroral splendor, and converting the weeping dew into rays of 
golden light, bathing the mountains and the valleys, the gar- 
dens and the fields of Mother-Nature, with a fresher and a 
lovelier radiance ! 





QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 185 

You picture the Spirit Laud to be one of uniform happiness to all people; 
now, if this be so, what possible motive can an unhappy earthling have to desist 
from suicide 1 

The answer is ample and conclusive. It is always true that, 
when a body dies on earth, a soul comes out, more or less beau- 
tiful, in the angelic land. But a bright beauty and glory can 
not be obtained there by violation of natural laws, by wrong 
motives, or by the voluntary extinction of life in this world. 
No ; it is only when Father-God's and Mother-Nature's Laws 
are permitted their full and complete operations — it is only 
when the issues of inimitable principles are patiently received 
and cherished — that glory, happiness, and promotion, are at- 
tained through physical dissolution. In the voyage from child- 
hood to maturity, our bark is frequently overtaken by storms 
— dark clouds hang o'er our heads, weeping sadly, as if some 
fearful disaster were prepared for us in the next hour — and 
we, too, mingle our voices with the dirge of mournful sighs, 
and resign ourselves to the fearful calamity. But the next 
hour is redolent with sunshine and safety ; the elements of Na- 
ture have but changed places — inferior conditions are trans- 
ferred to superior circumstances — our disturbed feelings have 
but induced a quiet and refreshing slumber ; and our waking is 
into fresh vigor and lasting joy. Such is the ultimate experi- 
ence of him who, having done all within his power to prevent 
every description of disaster and discord, yields to the legiti- 
mate operations of Nature, and rolls into harmony with God's 
eternal purposes, as an infant falls asleep on its mother's 
breast. Such is the death-bed experience of the true student 
and lover of Mother-Nature, of the true lover and server of 
Father-God. 

What is the great lesson which you mean to teach by the foregoing ? 

The great lesson which I would have enstamped on men's 
souls is, that the harmonial formation of character — in har- 
mony with the principles of Universal Love and Distributive 
Justice — is the only security against temporal unhappiness and 
future disturbances. Let us remember that true valor, true 
principles, and true motives of action, only, can promote us to 
the position and glory of the sun ; while unrighteous ambition 



186 QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 

and impure intentions, convert us into the pale and powerless 
satellite which borrows its light — being visible only when the 
greater and purer radiance of the sun is bathing and beautify- 
ing landscapes behind the western hills. Progression is made 
by a reasonable belief in progress. Harmony of character 
and loveliness of disposition unfold gradually from unwavering 
efforts to acquire them. May such faith and such efforts be 
our crown and adornments — for they are at once the causes 
and effects of fraternal harmony and personal happiness. 

All can not exercise the interior senses; few can realize your experience; 
what can he said to console such minds ? 

It is no part of the Harmonial Philosophy to depend solely 
upon outward evidences — upon perception and testimony; on 
the contrary, its students are referred each to the fixed princi- 
ples of universal Nature. This method has been strictly fol- 
lowed by the writer, and the deathbed consolations to my 
spirit are many and ample. We may weep, but only for joy 
and gratitude. The dear departed is not in the coffin — is not 
dead — is not buried in the earth — the sod will not always 
conceal from your view the hand that has pressed yours ; nei- 
ther the face that has darted its smiles and emotions into your 
spirits. Nay, not so — the bone-and-muscle-garment which the 
spirit had worn for years, has been properly conveyed to its 
appropriate hiding-place ; while the eternal Inmost has glided 
to a fairer country — where friends and acquaintances sur- 
round, and pour forth the deep anthems of congratulation. A 
bud has burst, and a rose is unrolled ; the night is passed, 
and the sun shines bright in the heavens. A light has been 
extinguished on earth, but the light grows brighter under an- 
other sky. Divine elements have proceeded from the centre 
of the universe — through innumerable forms and combinations 
of matter — into the organization of a human soul. That 
soul has struggled with the physical and social world — has 
lived through the caterpillar stage of existence — has escaped 
the rudimental form. It now resides in the land of the butter- 
fly ; in the home of the spirit. Its pathway is onward and 
upward — leading the happy pilgrim nearer and nearer to the 

ETERNAL MAGNET — to the INFINITE MlND ! 



QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 187 

All who are acquainted with the postulates of the Harmonial 
Philosophy will remember, among other things, that the ante- 
rior part of every human head is atheistical, is skeptical, is 
materialistic ; that the highest portion is deistical, is a believer, 
is spiritual ; that the posterior portion of every head is idolco- 
troas, is loving, is devotional. The cerebellic portion is called 
" Love ;" when inverted it is terrible to contemplate. The 
front portion is called "Intellect ;" when inactive, it is idiotic. 
The superior portion is called " Spiritual ;" when subverted, 
it induces the inquisitorial cruelties recorded by the blood of 
thousands. 

What do the upper faculties teach the intellect'? 

When normally exercised, the " spiritual" portion of man's 
head teacheth not only that his soul hath a God, but that it is 
itself a god ; not only that there are spirits beyond the vale, 
but that his own existence is a spirit. But the spiritual por- 
tion of man's head — being the highest, the last, and most per- 
fect development of character — is little exercised in this age 
of the world. Persons are, therefore, devotional through the 
Love-nature ; and skeptical, through the front parts of the 
head. In churches and out of churches there are skeptics and 
infidels ; to every fundamental principle which underlies this 
stupendous development. Merchants and ministers, when hon- 
est and transparent, appear equally skeptical. They have 
doubtless heard — "the importance of investigation." Many 
reasons there are — cogent and startling to men of conscience, 
to men of intellect, to men of moral and religious aspirations 
— why spiritualism should be investigated. 

"What do you consider a sufficient reason ? 

The most momentous reason why spiritualism should be ex- 
amined is this : that it numbers already more believers than 
Christianity gained after three centuries and a half of primi- 
tive enterprise ! It is extensively wide-spread ; if false, it is 
equally fatal. If true, it should be made universal, beneficent, 
useful. How necessary, then, that men should be candid and 
truthful in approaching a question to which are attached such 
immense and lasting consequences ! 



188 QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 

Few public minds have treated this question with sincerity ; in view of this — 
what is the scientific exposition of the "rappings" — as satirically given about 
two years since by the ascended Galen ? 

Mysterious rappings proceed from the sub-derangement and 
hyper-effervescence of small conical glandular bodies situated 
heterogeneously in the rotundum of the inferior acephalocysts ; 
which, by coming in unconscious contact with the etherization 
of the five superior processes of the dorsal vertebrae, also re- 
sults in " tippings," by giving rise to spontaneous combustion 
with certain abnormal evacuations of multitudinous echinor- 
hyncus bicornis, situated in various abdominal orifices. The 
raps occur from the ebullitions of the former in certain tem- 
peramental structures ; and the tips from the thoracic cartila- 
gineous ducts, whenever their contents are compressed by 
cerebral inclinations. 

What is Galen's scientific report of the affection (or disease) which the pre- 
judiced affirm against mediums 1 

All rapping media have that extraordinary affection, known 
by the professsion as cephalomatous — being, in common phra- 
seology, an elastic obtuseness of the superior hemispheres of 
the cerebellosus. Whenever such patients (vulgarly termed 
"mediums") arrange their manui (hands) or cerebellous func- 
tions and protuberances in corpus juxtaposition with a table or 
other substance, the moving s occur as a matter of compulsa- 
tory necessity, to wit : by an ejaculation of volatile invisible 
effervential gases (flatulentus cerebelli), generated by the de- 
composition of ascaris lumbricoid.es ; which, being regular 
descendants of the gymnotus electricus, perambulate miscel- 
laneously through the duodenum and the abdominal viscera 
generally. The vulgar theories and anti-professional hypothe- 
ses of spiritual spasmodic action of the muscular system, or of 
electrical aura, in spontaneous dislodgment and preternatural 
infiltration, we pronounce delusive, gentlemen, and unhesita- 
tingly reject them, in toto, as unhealthy excretions and galvanic 
evolutions of diseased and contused cerebellous glands, called, 
by the uneducated, phrenological organs or faculties. 

It is well known that so-called scientific men pretend to information on this 
subject which they do not possess ; in view of this supercilious profession, what 
is Galen's ironical definition of the treatment of media ? 

Observation endorsed by a stupendous array of clinic ex 



QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 189 

perience, enables the scientific man to pronounce this " spirit- 
aal-rapping-and-table-moving" development, to be an irregular 
and anti-scientific disease, raging among the lower and super- 
stitious classes — affecting by inoculation certain predisposed 
organisms in higher circles of society. Patients, who realize 
membraneous and abnormal nervo-excitements by attendance 
upon rapping 1 assemblages, may be considered, by the regular 
allopathic faculty, as being afflicted with a hypergenesis in the 
pigbaceous cartilage of the medullary processes. The con- 
veniences of the Hospital should be secured to such patients, 
as a surgical operation may be correct treatment in chronic 
cases ; and our countless students should see such cases scien- 
tifically treated by the regular faculty. 

What does the satirical Galea say in conclusion ? 

Furthermore, in conclusion, to enlighten you still more on 
the pathognomical symptoms of this extraordinary disease, I 
will state* as a result of my recent three-quarters-of-an-hour 
investigation, that patients who fancy they hear " raps" and 
see " tables move" are mostly laboring with a hyper acusis in 
the tympanum cavity, also, very probably, with chronic hypers- 
thenic/,. The symptoms are recognisable by protusion of the 
visual orbs, irregularly-distended mouth, suspended breathing, 
with occasional ejaculations, and a morbid exaltation of the 
sense of touch; treatment should be prompt and allopathic — 
anti-phlogistic, anti-scolic, anti-spasmodic — with three of our 
best leeches periodically applied to the patient's purse. 

It is well enough known that men in general do not rely upon their own spir- 
itual faculties ; therefore will you not give your impressions on the material evi- 
dences that man is a spirit 1 

Yes ; and I will begin with this proposition : that man's 
spirit is a product of his organization — that the physical organi- 
zation of man is designed, by the whole system of Nature, to 
manufacture the form and structure of the spiritual principle. 

How can you substantiate this proposition 1 

One proof is : man contains within his body a little of all 
which is to be found out of it. For example : he may employ 
an allopathic physician, who will feed him upon mineral prepa- 

* Galen here speaks like some wordy member of the medical profession. 



190 QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 

rations. Minerals can be absorbed by the physical system, be- 
cause they find acquaintance there. The supercarbonate, the 
muriatic tincture, and the peroxide of iron, also all the differ- 
ent forms of silver and gold, and other metals from gold to 
the lowest substance in the mineral world — all find an ac- 
quaintance in man's physical organization. Chemists know 
that there can be no real attraction, no appropriation, without 
affinity. Man's body could not absorb iron or gold — none of 
the sixty-four primates which form the physical constitution of 
Mother-Nature — unless in his organization there resided a 
spirit of invitation. Iron within invites iron without. Give 
man too much, and his system will try to repel it. It is not the 
substance, but the quantity. This is the reason why allopathic 
medicines frequently substitute themselves for diseases which 
they were given to cure. 

Does this proof appear equally obvious in the use of vegetable substances ? 

Yes ; another proof is : that man can take a little of every 
kind of vegetation, of fruit and berries, which exist upon the face 
of the earth. The Cicuta plant, belladona, and stramonium, are 
administered and absorbed. No such absorption could take 
place without a welcoming affinity. Men eat the muscle of 
the ox, of the deer, of the lamb, of birds, of fish, and the tor- 
toise ; because there is something corresponding in the body 
which invites animals, vegetables, minerals. The main ques- 
tion for dietists is : how to combine food, how much to eat, and 
when to eat it. 

What is the doctrine which you now desire to impress ? 

The doctrine which I now urge upon your attention, is : that 
man's body is the fruition of all organic nature ; that the spirit 
body is formed by the outer body. I am writing now as if the 
reader had just begun, in the primary department of the 
school of the Harmonial Philosophy. The body is the focal 
concentration of all substances ; the spirit is the organic com- 
bination of all forces. The representation of every particle of 
matter, therefore, is ultimately made by man. 

Do you mean to teach that the spirit is manufactured by the body ? 

Nay ; I mean to teach that the body of the spirit (the soul) 
is a result wrought out by the physical organization ; not that 






QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 191 

the spirit is created, but that its structure is formed by means 
of the external body. Mind internally is not a creation or ul- 
timation of matter ; but mental organization is a result of ma- 
terial refinement. Man's organism is composed of muscles, 
bones, tissues, membranes, visceral organs : these structures 
must have some specific purpose. 

What uses do these structures subserve in the economy ? 

The use of a physical bone is to make a spiritual bone ; even 
so the physical muscle makes a spiritual muscle ; not the es- 
sence, but the form thereof. The use of the cerebrum is to 
make a spiritual front brain ; even so the cerebellum makes a 
spiritual back brain. Inside the visible spine is the spiritual 
spine invisible ; the material lungs contain spiritual organs of 
respiration. The physical ear is animated by a spiritual ear. 
In a word, the whole outward body is a re-presentation of that 
which is imperishable. Father-God. and Mother-Nature first 
unfold lungs, eyes, ears, brains, bones, muscles, and tissues. 
What a stupendous marvel ! Throughout all subterranean 
caverns these structures exist in principle. My investigations 
lead me to affirm, that there is a spiritual anatomy within this 
physical anatomy ; a spiritual physiology within the physical 
physiology ; that man's physical structures operate, like the 
wheels and processes of a mill, to manufacture the spirit's ex- 
ternal organization. Mother-Nature claims the physical body ; 
and Father-God claims that which is spiritual. Father-God 
and Mother-Nature, by their celestial copulations, formed those 
children ! 

Can you illustrate your impression ? 

I will try. Plant a peach-pit in the earth. Mother-Nature, 
by her subtle magnetism, warms and swells it. Presently it 
breaks through the earth's crust, and comes out. At first, a 
tuft is only seen. Gradually, however, foot upon foot of wood 
is added ; then come beautiful branches ; these branches pro- 
duce others smaller and better ; and lastly, the whole tree is 
perfected. 

Why does that tree exist ? 

It exists to the end that its whole might bring forth peaches. 
These peaches go to work, in due course, to reproduce their kind. 



192 QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 

Even so all Nature exists to the end that Man may come forth ; 
then, the types being established, the process changes to prop- 
agation ; and men continue to multiply and replenish the earth. 

Do you mean that man's inmost spirit is a substance ? 

Yes! " Ah, Jackson, you're a materialist !" Nay; I am not. 
Mind, essentially different from matter, is eternal ; so, also, is 
Matter, essentially distinct from mind, eternal. These princi- 
ples, as male and female, live together in unchangeable wed- 
lock. One is what I term Father-God ; the other, is Mother- 
Nature. 

What do you mean by saying that spirit is substance ? 

I mean that spirit is the absence of nonentity ; that matter, 
after reaching its highest point of unparticled attenuation, be- 
comes a celestial magnetism ; that the spiritual essence takes 
hold of this material magnetism ; that, at this point, the two 
are married ; and a succession of elaborations commence until 
the whole spiritual structure is completed. First, there is 
muscle ; second, nerve ; third, blood ; fourth, tissue ; fifth, 
brain ; sixth, electricity ; seventh, magnetism. "When arrived 
at the highest point, vital magnetism, you have reached the 
seventh degree. 

Let us now go further. Motion begins upon magnetism ; 
Life on motion ; Sensation upon life ; Intelligence upon sen- 
sation. Commence at the bone-basis and walk up-stairs. 
Bone — Muscle — Nerve — Blood — Tissue — Brain — Electri- 
city — Magnetism — Motion — Life — Sensation — Intelligence. 
Twelve rounds in the upright ladder of existence ! 

Do you mean to teach that spirit is matter ? 

No ; I mean to teach that spirit is substance. The most 
definite conception of nothing ever given to mankind, is, the 
theological idea of spirit ! 

Can you demonstrate that the spirit of man is a substance ? 

Yes; I can take the method of the scientific world, and 
affirm, as self-evident, that there can be no motion without 
force ; that no substance can be moved without weight, which 
implies substance. Every person's experience is a complete 
demonstration that spirit is a substance ; that spirit can move 
weight. Look into the street yonder : see persons, with 



QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 193 

bodies, weighing from seventy-five to two hundred pounds. 
What an immense quantity ; in the aggregate, how many tons ! 
Those bodies of weight, solid weight, would not move if the 
spirits were gone out. No deception ; it is real bone, real 
muscle, real matter. Can there be motion without force? 
Can substance be moved without weight ? Can something be 
moved by no-thing ? Can entity be moved by wow-entity. The 
fact of your existence, of moving your body about from place 
to place, is evidence that spirit is substance. It requires intel- 
ligence to act upon sensation, sensation to act upon life, life to 
act upon motion, motion to act upon magnetism, magnetism to 
act upon the brain, and so on down through the sympathetic 
system — composed of membranes, blood, nerves, muscles — 
down until the bone is reached and controlled. Thus you go 
down the stairs every time you move your hand — down twelve 
rounds in the ladder of normal consciousness. You even 
move without thinking. You may produce a gigantic manifes- 
tation of muscular power even without thought. And why ? 
Because your hidden spirit-principle is composed of all vital, 
forces. It can, therefore, think and do a great many things at 
the same moment. Every time a voluntary muscular manifes- 
tation is made, your thoughts pass through several telegraphic 
depots — sensation, life, motion, nerves, muscles, &c, as al- 
ready explained. Thus, telegraphic despatches are sent by 
the will-force to all departments of the system. Man's spirit 
demonstrates its own substantiality ; by means of its own nor- 
mal manifestations. I appeal to no other Bible than to man's 
own Life-Book ! Let every intelligent person, who doubts that 
spirit is substance, shut off all foregone conclusions, go into the 
Innermost for ten brief minutes, consider this proposition in 
the light of his own daily and hourly experience, and quite 
certain am I that he will require no other or better argument. 

You intimated that you had two propositions in view ; what is the second ? 

My second proposition is this : that although the spirit of 
man is substance and weight, although it hath elasticity and 
divisibility and the several ultimate qualifications and proper- 
ties of matter, yet that it (spirit) obeys laws which are supe- 
rior to ordinary gravitation and superior (not antagonistic) to 

13 



194 QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 

the known physical forces. Gravitation refers to weight ; to 
rarity, to density ; to squares of distances. Physical forces in 
nature are of various kinds. Some are mechanical, as the 
lever, the screw, etc. ; but the spirit of man obeys naturally, 
as it should politically, a set of higher laws. 

How can you sustain this proposition — with what proof? 

The proof is prima facia — that man's being is double : two- 
fold throughout. These are signs on the outward structure 
pointing to the corresponding fountains of causation inward. 
Man has two eyes, two brains, two hands, two feet, two sides 
to the lungs ; the human heart is double, and so is each 
part of the system. "What does it mean? Merchants put 
signs without their stores ; to indicate what they are doing 
within. 

Do you mean to teach that the body indicates the soul 1 

Yes ; the double visible structures come from double invis- 
ible principles ; and these are male and female. They operate 
reciprocally ; they regulate all action and all animation. One 
contracts and the other expands. These two principles cause 
sensation to flow from the head to the extremities and a return 
wave to go from the extremities to the centre of the sensorium. 
When there is harmony there is reciprocation. How could 
there be such a beautiful compensatory activity in man's system, 
unless there were some grand correspondential principles under- 
lying and producing it all ? One principle, I repeat, is posi- 
tive ; the other is negative — or, one is male, the other is fe- 
male. These principles together form a unit — uniting the 
double system in one action. This positive and negative Law 
is that which the mind obeys. Men go and come in obedience 
to this law. For example : if you feel a power in the Koran 
more positive than that which influences you to read this work, 
you will ere long leave these pages and seek those more at- 
tractive. Man ever obeys the strongest attraction. That at- 
traction may come through the intellectual, the moral, or the 
social, nature ; whatever the direction whence it comes, it is a 
manifestation of this double principle. Why not say, then, 
that Life is ample ; that it is a plenarily inspired book ? 



QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 195 

Can you further explain and illuminate your proposition, that spirit oheys a 
law higher than common gravitation ? 

Yes ; the heart throws blood to the head. By what law is 
this done ? Is it not higher than that of gravitation ? Water 
has weight, and in consequence will run down hill. But, in 
man's body, water runs up hill ! The heart is constantly send- 
ing a mass of blood to the brain. "Where now is your physical 
law ? When you come to analyze the spirit, take care lest 
your analogies be constrained. It is easy to get lost in the in- 
tricate mazes of psychology. Men float in a sea of boundless 
conjecture. Yes ; " water will flow down hill." But apply 
this analogy to the spirit — and say, that if spirit be substance, 
it can not get beyond the physical gravitation of the earth — 
and you make a fundamental mistake. If I were to affirm 
that the spirits of some men, after residing a proper time in 
the spiritual world, weigh seventy-five pounds, you would reply 
that such persons would be governed by the law of gravitation 
— which law would cause a stone of less weight, projected into 
the air, to fall to the earth again. But I reply that this spirit, 
unlike inanimate bodies, operates upon a positive and negative 
principle ; by virtue of which, the spirit holds up the body, 
and the body holds up the spirit. 

Will you not restate your two propositions ? 

Yes ; my two propositions are first, that spirit is a substance ; 
second, that this substance, although not unlike matter, obeys a 
law higher than gravitation. The last proposition is illustrated 
by the heart which throws the blood to the finest rami- 
fications of the vascular system, and magnetically calls it all 
back again to its primal fountains. The blood runs up hill 
every instant of time. You have heard the analogy, that the 
heart is a force-pump. But the truth is, that this organ, un- 
like a pump, operates upon positives and negatives — by alter- 
nate contractions and expansions. 

What enables the physical heart to perform this function ? 

The visible heart performs this function, because there is a 
corresponding spiritual heart within it. A spiritual heart per- 
forms a material manifestation. The spiritual heart which is 



196 QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 

something, moves the physical heart which also is something, 
more external. 

Where is the seat or centre of the soul ? 

The centre of the soul is near the centre of the brain. 
There is a small nucleus in which is concentrated the vital 
power of all that constitutes a man. This place, in the lifeless 
brain, is not larger than a buck-shot. In the living brain it is 
as large as a frost-grape. Now grant the idea that spirit is 
substance, and that, nevertheless, it obeys a law higher than 
gravitation, and you are prepared to comprehend many of the 
facts of death. 

Will you. describe the facts of death as seen by clairvoyance ? 

Yes ; death is a continual manifestation. The body is 
gradually passing into a state of insensibility. Look at it ; 
feel of it. It is just what it was, except that it is cooler. Dis- 
agreeable humidity and a chilliness ; it hath a look of coming 
annihilation. Look at it with your bodily eyes ! 

Is there any sensible evidence that a spirit of substance is ascending from that 
brain ? 

No ; the sensuous evidence is somewhat otherwise. Weigh 
the dead body. It will weigh as much as it did before death, 
probably a little more. Why ? Because the absence of action 
increases specific gravity ; by giving a greater advantage to the 
law of ordinary gravitation. Nevertheless, I affirm, that the 
spirit's organism is substance ; that it weighs something. 

How many times have you witnessed the departure of spirit ? 

I have clairvoyantly observed it about thirty times. In re- 
gard to this function of dying I have but one testimony. Out- 
ward vision borders upon the thought of nonentity. People 
called " second-adventists" believe in the annihilation of spirit, 
except it be saved through the miracle and sufferance of a risen 
Savior. Unless they be dead in Christ they dare not hope for 
resurrection. Other church people have modified their views. 
The substance of all Christian doctrine is, that breath animates 
the body ; this once breathed out, the body is no more ; and 
the spirit is nothing, except by virtue of a miracle. This the- 



QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 197 

ory in regard to the unsubstantialness of the spirit is very 
strange ; only, however, as all error is strange. 

Does the death of a body, and the spiritual liberation, resemble the birth of a 
chifd? 

Yes ; the centre of the head, the seat of the soul, absorbs 
the life principles from the feet, hands, muscles, bones, nerves, 
blood. Presently this centre expands. The brain and the 
skull are porous ; and there is an emanation. This emanating 
substance ascends through the wall, and reaches a place in the 
atmosphere, higher than clouds and storms. When arrived, 
there are in readiness many accouchers ; men and women, 
from the Second Sphere, waiting the new birth. It is not lar- 
ger now than the morning-star ; to the eye it is but a radiant 
point of light. Now it begins to expand ; to look more like a 
human face. A human head begins to round out; yet it is 
small, light, vapory. The neck and shoulders are slowly built 
up. It continues to grow more real ; now you see the shoul- 
ders and arms ; and now all the structure complete ! The 
lungs come out there, and the heart ; good prototypes of the 
physical organs. The heart still hath its sensibility. The spirit 
is like a child, just merging into being. It feels the pressure of 
a fresh atmosphere ; of strange surroundings. It keeps outfold- 
ing very light ; very like an infant. Presently it is disengaged 
and complete, above the storm ; perhaps, five hundred furlongs 
away. Thus, the spirit-child is born out of the body : which 
was its mother ! 

There was Dr. Webster, who put away Dr. Parkman : will you tell what you 
witnessed in that instance % 

Yes ; I had an opportunity to observe the process of death 
by hanging. I was, at the time, boarding in Cambridge, Mass. 
While the final trial was proceeding, I prayed to ascertain his 
mental state. I examined him, therefore, and the knowledge 
thereof was good for me ; but what I wish to speak of now, is, 
the experience of his last moments ; of his emergement into a 
different and better Sphere. At eleven o'clock, one day, I 
went from the Brattle House to Mount Auburn. Alone there, 
enveloped by the suggestive solitude of that beautiful place, I 
passed into the interior. By clairvoyance I looked through 



198 QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 

the distance of three miles ; gazed into the yard of the jail in 
Leverett street, Boston. Carefully I viewed the spectacle. 
And I testify to what I observed ; to illustrate the soul's im- 
mortality. 

When the fatal word was given, his body fell. I saw the 
effect it had upon his spirit. If all the weight of Boston city 
had been concentrated in one cannon-ball, and if this ball had 
fallen upon the head of Dr. Webster, he would not have expe- 
rienced a more instantaneous annihilation of personality. As 
quick as the telegraph can give one pulse from New York to 
Boston ; so quick was the suspension of all his consciousness. 
This was the first person I ever saw hung ; and I hope the last. 
Everything was still. Motion, life, sensation, intelligence, 
magnetism, electricity — all was still as the stillest breath. 
When he was taken down, I saw him laid in the coffin. They 
pronounced him dead, but his spirit was not gone out ; and it 
seemed to me that he might have been restored. 

Did you watch the departure of his spirit 1 

Yes; during seven hours and a half — the longest period I 
ever watched — I observed the process. It took him seven and 
a half hours to be born into the other Sphere. This was done 
without his consciousness of having any existence. The soul- 
centre of the head — which became as a star — ascended about 
four miles above the streets : at an angle of about thirty de- 
grees. It grew rapidly positive, and began to draw upon the 
elements still remaining in the body. This little radiant power 
in the atmosphere was surrounded by five spiritualized persona- 
ges. It grew more positive, and pulsated. There came out in- 
distinct features, gradually ; then the neck and the shoulders ; 
then childlike hands, etc., till the organization was complete 
(as I have described in previous volumes). He was pro- 
foundly and congestively asleep. His consciousness was some- 
what between sensation and thought ; that is, he had neither 
thought nor sensation ; his state was just between joy and sor- 
row, heat and cold, harmony and discord. It was temporary 
annihilation. There were five spirit-persons attending him. 
By their kindly offices he was carried to the Spirit Home. I 
saw where he was by them deposited. 



QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 199 

How long did he remain in that semi-annihilated state 1 

He was eight days and a half in that semi-unconscious situa- 
tion. Every day, at eleven o'clock, I walked out to the retire- 
ments of Mt. Auburn, in order to witness that beautiful spectacle 
beyond the Milky Way ! On the ninth day, I saw throughout the 
spiritual atmosphere, a strange, vibratory pulsation. It seemed 
to tremble wave-like through the whole heavens. At first, I 
observed it in the distance. It kept rushing on, swelling out, 
pulsating round about ; until it penetrated Dr. Webster's spir- 
itual brain. As he roused and opened his new organs, I saw 
upon him certain expressions of agitation, alarm, wonder, some- 
what of gratification. He made an effort at memory — " What ! 
is this Boston ? — Is this a dream? — Have I been asleep ? — I 
was hung. — No ! this is not Boston." Thus, he was awakened 
by music, to a knowledge of his future work. 

Do you mean that man's spirit grows in the Second Sphere, and increaseth in 
substance and weight? 

Yes; spirit grows in the spiritual world — as children grow 
in the natural — by inspiration, aggregation, and secretion. 

Can you offer some illustration 1 

Yes ; plant a young peach-tree in a half ton of earth : placed 
in wooden or earthen enclosure, with a few holes only to admit 
moisture. Previous to planting, weigh the earth to an ounce. 
We will suppose that you have half a ton, plus twenty-eight 
pounds. Now let the tree grow in its own beautiful way, year 
after year, till it hath brought forth peaches. This matured 
tree will now weigh, perhaps, one hundred and fifty pounds. 
Then weigh the earth, and you will not miss more that two or 
three ounces ! How can you account for the peach-tree, while 
the supporting earth beneath weighs no less ? This question 
answers the other. The spiritual body which, when it escapes 
the material body, does not weigh more than the sixteenth of a 
pound, continues to absorb from the elements of the invisible 
air, until it becomes comparatively weighty, acquiring not only 
a power of gravitation, but also a power to overcome it. 

What may be said about the unity of causes % 

The unity and fixity of truth presupposes and determines 
the unity of causes. That is to say, whatever caused vegeta- 



200 QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 

tion to grow on the plains of Judea four thousand years ago, 
produces the identical effect in the State of New York to-day. 
And our next affirmation is equally plain and irresistible, viz. : 
whatever law will explain the manifestations of the nineteenth 
century, will adequately solve the manifestations of past ages ; 
and throw off, thus, all the mystery and incomprehensibility 
which have hitherto lurked over the regions of miracle and 
supernaturalism . 

What does the Apostle Paul say concerning Spiritualism ? 

Paul said there were in his day diversities of gifts, and di- 
versities of operations. But the manifestation of the Spirit is 
given to every man to profit. For to one is given by the Spirit 
the word of wisdom ; to another the word of knowledge by the 
same Spirit ; to another faith, by the same Spirit ; to another 
the gift of healing, by the same Spirit ; to another the working 
of miracles ; to another prophesy ; to another discerning of 
spirits ; to another diverse kinds of tongues ; to another the 
interpretation of tongues ; but all these are by one and the 
self-same Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will. 

Is the Apostle's account based upon theology or philosophy ? 

Paul's words are mostly theological, yet there is profound 
philosophy lurking in these few passages. In the first place, 
Paul affirms that every person is a medium. Instead of " gifts," 
however, I would have said endowments, qualifications ; a facul- 
ty, an ability, not imparted to the mind, but an element latent 
in mind, which invites and produces manifestation. Upon ex- 
amination, I think the reader would change this word " gift," 
to " endowment," implying an inherent and organic ability. 
Had Paul spoken philosophically, rather than theologically, he 
would have said : " There are diversities of qualifications, 
brethren, of which I would not have you ignoratft." 

What did the Apostle mean when he said that these diverse manifestations are 
all by the same spirit ? 

The word " spirit" signifies animus ; that which unites, ener- 
gizes, and gives vitality. There are different qualifications, 
but by the same principle. Truth, I repeat, is a unit : and 
like effects are never referable to different causes. Whatever 
principle explains the manifestations of the nineteenth cen- 



QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 201 

tury, must, of necessity, account for all similar manifestations 
in days of yore. 

How many varieties of media were there in the days of Paul ? 

Paul describes nine different kinds of manifestations, viz. : 
the word of wisdom, the word of knowledge, faith, healing, the 
working of miracles (that is, effects incomprehensible at that 
age), prophesy, discerning of spirits, divers kinds of tongues, 
and interpretation of tongues. There were, therefore, nine 
different kinds of media. These signify differences, not of 
gifts, but of mental qualifications. Whatever principle it was 
which unfolded nine types of mediumship in the days of Paul, 
is the same which has produced twenty-four* types of medium- 
ship in the days of President Pierce and Queen Victoria. It 
is of no consequence whether men believe in Paul's theology or 
not. History is uniform in her testimony, that that principle, 
operating in Nature and the human soul, which brought nine 
mediums in the period of Paul, is sufficiently progressive and 
potent to develop twenty-four different classes in the course of 
eighteen hundred years. 

What does the Douay Bible relate concerning the mediumship attributed to St. 
John 

It says that John, the son of Zebedee and Siloam, brother to 
James the Greater, was called the Beloved Disciple ; that he 
wrote his Gospel, not from observation or experience, but sixty- 
three years after everything occurred about which he wrote. 
From this we are constrained to conclude that John — the be- 
loved, the earnest, the enthusiastic — was compelled to take 
memory, or tradition, or inspiration. Which do you say ? Will 
you take memory for sixty-three years ? Will you trust tradi- 
tion for sixty-three years ? Human experience, in the main, is 
identical. And such experience proves that memory is defec- 
tive in sixty-three hours ; and tradition is seldom trustworthy 
sixty-three days from the date of its tale. You are driven, 
then, to the last ground : to assume for the Apostle a sort of 
revelation or inspiration. If John's Gospel is to be taken as 
authentic, then you must find some explanation of the mode of 
his getting at correct information. If he received his ideas by 

* See the classification in the " Present Age and Inner Life." 



202 QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 

inspiration, then what law regulated that inspiration? The 
Douay Bible says that John supplied many things which the 
evangelists omitted. If he supplied conversations and ideas 
omitted by Matthew, Mark, and Luke, then arises this ques- 
tion: 

What was the principle whereby St. John acquired such information ? 

Saint Jerome states in the preface to John's Gospel, that 
when he (John) was earnestly requested by the brethren to 
write the Gospel, he answered that " he would do so." Remem- 
ber this was sixty-three years after the occurrence of the events 
and conversations to be written ! But what were the conditions ? 
They were these: — "After ordering a common fast, they 
put up their prayers to the Almighty." Here, then, are two 
primary conditions : abstaining from food, and becoming rever- 
ent in soul ; which " being complied with," says Saint Jerome, 
" replenished with the clearest and fullest revelation coming 
from heaven, he burst forth in that preface, ' In the beginning 
was the word,' " etc. Suppose a medium, in the Nineteenth 
Century, no less physically and mentally prepared for manifes- 
tation, should be moved to write, " In the beginning was the 
Word," etc., you would perhaps say, "it is incredible." The 
idea I would urge, is — the unity of truth ; the oneness of ex- 
planation. As progressive philosophers, we are unconcerned 
whether you stamp our experience " psychology," or " magnet- 
ism," or " hallucination." We can hold up to the Christian 
world the same explanation of all they hold to be sacred. Our 
experience should be conscientiously examined. Because what- 
ever will explain our experience, will explain similar ante- 
cedents, and force the Bible to its true position, as a relic or 
history of mediumistic literature. 

Are the modern effects of spiritualism superior to those of ancient days ? 

Yes ; the superiority of our manifestations, over those of 
the past, can be easily traced and demonstrated. Taking 
modern mediumistic revelations, all in all, we find a variety 
of superior results. Many mediums of to-day are far better 
than many of ancient periods. Let me report a case : " Now 
when Jesus was risen the first day of the week, he appeared 
first" to one of the most talented and unimpeachable 



QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OP IMMORTALITY. 203 

characters ? No ! to a person about whom nothing of wrong 

or evil could be said ? No ! Have ye not heard it 

said that the manifestations of to-day can not be divine be- 
cause they do not come through ladies and gentlemen of an 
unimpeachable character, and through persons of commanding 
social positions ? This has been asserted in the Churches. 
Churchmen assert that the persons selected as media are those 
in whom little or no confidence can be reposed. " Jane,''* 
" Bridget," " Susan," " Tom," " Dick," " Harry"— indifferent 
persons, about whom community can know nothing. And yet, 
I am now reporting a case where, when Jesus spiritually arose, 
he appeared first — not to one of the most unimpeachable char- 
acters — not to one of the celebrated doctors of the Church, 
but — only to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had cast 
seven discords. Think of it ! The Church believes that a 
detachment of the God of the Universe makes his first ap- 
pearance to Mary Magdalene out of whom he had cast seven 
(D) evils. When this medium told what she had seen " they 
believed her not ;" perhaps, because her character for truth 
was not well enough established. Jesus subsequently appeared, 
in another form to two on the way to Emmaus ; and the Apos- 
tles believed them not. Afterward, however, he appeared 
unto the eleven as they sat at meat and upbraided them be- 
cause they believed not the testimony of Mary and of the two 
on the way to Emmaus. A most extraordinary circumstance 
when isolated and considered by itself, but, viewed through 
our ample and superior experiences, it seemeth familiar as 
household words. If the character of our mediums reflect upon 
their manifestations, the same is not less true of the past. 

What relation does modern spiritualism sustain to the ancient bible 1 

The bible stands or falls upon that verdict which will be even- 
tually brought in by impartial investigators. The mythological 
past is to be tested by the experience and intelligence of the 
present. I affirm the unadulterated spiritual origin of forty 
per cent, of all our experience. The bible is good as a history 
of spiritualities — is valuable as a history of hallucinations — 
just as our experiences may determine. It is no benefit to a 
Harmonial Philosopher that the Bible teaches spiritualism. 



204 QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 

But to the world it may be important, that the psychological 
department of our experience turns out to be spiritual, so that 
the Bible may be retained in confidence as a truthful historical 
relic. It is of great importance to the Churches, and not to 
us, as to the explanation of our experiences. 

Should spiritualists endeavor to persuade the people that spiritualism is Scrip- 
tural ? 

No ; it is of little advantage to spiritualists to Christianize 
their experience. It is important to churchmen to know that 
Daniel, who had a vision (see ch. x.) ate no pleasant bread 
for three whole weeks ; drank no tea, no coffee ; smoked no 
cigars ; chewed no tobacco ; ate no pork or beef-steaks ; but 
devoted himself body and soul, for three whole weeks, in order 
to receive a manifestation ! How many plethoric persons are 
there who would go without food three days to get a manifes- 
tation ? Full of pork and potatoes, full of corruption and ex- 
cess, they stand up — maintaining commanding positions in the 
pulpit or through the press — and sneer at the experience of 
him who is willing to forego all luxuries for spiritual insight. If 
they would but try the methods adopted by John or by Daniel, 
they would soon discover that spiritualism is a truth to be 
strengthened by scientific investigation. No ! There is no posi- 
tive advantage to accrue from Christianizing spiritualism. The 
Universalist, once the most liberal, is now anxious to avoid the 
name " infidel." We have Christian Universalists, Christian 
Unitarians, Christian Wakemanites, Christian Shakers, Chris- 
tian Spiritualists. Does the spiritualist need the past to en- 
dorse him? Far from it. The worst disadvantages would 
result from the adoption of spiritualism by the churches. Let 
churches discover that it is their safest policy to invite you in, 
in order to preach their spiritualism to you ; then accept, and 
you will become incrustated amid the consolidations of time- 
serving institutions. In fifty short years our spiritualism would 
have a sectarian encasement. Forbid it, Genius of Progres- 
sion ! Spiritualists ! stand positive ; do not go backward. Go 
up into the resplendent Temple of Father-God and Mother- 
Nature ; stand ye firmly there ; and into yourselves welcome 
the spiritual testimony. 



QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 205 

"And they that tell us of these glorious things — 

The blessed visitants from happier spheres, 
Whose presence felt from gently-wafting wings, 

Is known more often in these later years — 
How shall we thank these shining angel-hosts 

For all their loving patience shown to us? 
How bless these wanderers from the heavenly coasts 

Who journey here to love and labor thus ? 

"For they unseal the eyes that long have been 

Shut out from Truth by what the Preacher saith, 
And are proclaiming to the sons of men 

That God is Love and that there is no death! 
May we not join them in their choral song, 

That swells an anthem through the fields of space 
To spheres beyond, where, radiant and strong, 

Is felt the glory from the Father's face? 

"Oh God! we thank Thee, that the time has come 

To melt the shadow of this vast eclipse. 
It rolls away — and lo ! from those long dumb, 

Hosannahs rise, and praise is on their lips ! 
The purple morning breaketh — grand and sweet. 

It brings a day the Earth may not forget. 
Its airy streamers flow before the feet 

Of that glad sun which rises not to set I"* 

People complain of deceiving spirits ; can you explain why spirits deceive ? 

In addition to ample explanations to be found in preceding 
volumes, I will reply through a suggestive incident. 

While residing in the city of Hartford, there called upon me 
a lady, a member of a church, but who, unexpectedly to her- 
self, became a medium for impressions. These impressions 
were (to her own mind) clear, definite, and every way satis- 
factory. From word to word she wrote on, with great assu- 
rance, and always with a praise to God on her tongue. She 
was devotional ; and believed the Bible to be an emanation 
from the Divine. Therefore, on the doctrine that like cleaves 
to like — that Spirits in the other world seek their counterpart 
here — she should have attracted a Bible believer — or, persons 
entertaining sentiments identical with hers. Did such spirits 
visit her ? Let us see. There was a beautiful radiance all over 
her countenance ; it was a deep, settled, and almost frightful 

* These excellent words are taken from a poem written by Franklin L. Burr, 
of Hartford, Conn. 



206 QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 

excess of enthusiasm. I have often seen such expression. It 
is the sure sign of the lack of true investigation. 

Immediately on entering the hall, she said : " Mr„ Davis, I 
understand that you have impressions from the spiritual world. 
Did you ever hear of any person getting a communication from 
God ?" " Certainly," I replied. Then I brought to mind the 
whole Bible history — the historical development of religion — 

— which is ever good to contemplate. 

"Do you ever get anything from God yourself?" "Cer- 
tainly," I replied ; "I communicate with him every time I 
breathe. In fact, I have never supposed — since I have had 
any reasonable consciousness — that I could exist without a 
Divine emanation. Therefore I live and move and exist in 
him." " No, No," exclaimed she, " I mean, did you ever re- 
ceive into your mind words directly from God ?" " Never," I 
answered. " Well, I have a communication ; and it is signed 
< God.' " 

She took out her communication and read it. It was very 
sensible indeed ; and it was of importance in her view. Its 
purport was, that the Bible was written by chosen penmen, im- 
parting truths deeper than those penmen supposed, in order 
to meet the mental wants of the century in which it was 
written, and those of all the succeeding centuries — up to the 
very middle of the nineteenth ; but the race had, by a natural 
operation (which was not described) suddenly outgrown the 
whole letter, and much of the spirit, of the Bible ; yet the Lord 
wished to preserve the book from annihilation. He said sci- 
ence had outstripped it ; and jDhilosophy had seen beyond it. 
He had appointed her (the medium) to come to me and say, 
that from the high throne of Heaven he had chosen me out of 
all the inhabitants of the earth to re-write the Bible, and 
adapt it to the wants of the nineteenth century — and for 
two thousand years to come. He gave many reasons why I 
was qualified especially to take hold of the translation, and 
go on with it. Well : I considered a few moments. The com- 
munication was signed " God," and she believed it. I resolved 
to run the risk of shocking all her religious prejudices at once 

— for I sometimes discover, as the surgeon does, that amputa- 



QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 207 

tion is better than any temporizing palliative methods — in or- 
der to save the whole body from corruption. So, I thought, I 
would amputate even our friendship, perhaps ; for a principle is 
higher to me than friendship. Therefore I told her the next 
time she got in communication with god to tell him that, in 
my conscience, I believed that there were already too many 
Bibles for the world's good ; that any more would be adding 
insult to injury ; and, lastly, that I was too much engaged in 
other matters to undertake any such commission. 

She was shocked, of course. Her enthusiasm was changed 
into a sort of abhorrence of the blasphemy of a man in whom 
she expected to find instantaneous approbation, and a cheerful 
acceptance of the distinguished office. She said, demurely, 
that she would comply with my request. 

In ten days she returned. She had given my message to 
god. " Well ; what did he say ?" I asked. "Why, he said 
that he was not the God of the universe, and never pretended 
to be." She then opened a spiritual correspondence with the 
apocraphal " god." I asked : " Why do you sign your name 
' God' ?" " Because," he replied, " I am all the god this my 
charge can comprehend." " Do you take this method to de- 
ceive her ?" " No," he exclaimed. " Why, then, did you 
give her that message ?" " Because," he answered, " I saw 
no other way to bring her to visit with you — to bring about 
the conversation that has passed between you — and the results 
to grow out of it." "Do you mean that you are a very high 
and illustrious Spirit, and a God over many ?" " Not at all ; 
I am only a god in the sense of administering to the needs of 
my charge, helping her into a new dispensation. I am her 
guardian angel — I do not believe in her doctrines — I wish to 
convert her from them — I have not been deceiving — I gave 
her that message to secure your conversation — to turn her 
mind into new channels." "Do you mean to go on with her 
now ?" I asked. " Yes ; I have her confidence ; and I will go 
on with her development." 

I saw her about three months afterward. She was unfolded 
greater than all the churches ; she was happier ; was further 
from creed, but not less devotional. Her mind was entirely 



208 QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 

divested of the idea of great importance attaching to her, oe- 
cause she was an agent in the hand of her guardian-god. 

How does spiritualism compare with Christianity in its beneficial effect on 
mankind ? 

To give a just answer to this question I must first state the 
fact, that Christianity has been in the world nearly two thou- 
sand years while modern spiritual intercourse is only a little 
more than eight years old. Now Christianity has never sug- 
gested a single scientific fact — has never developed a single 
broad scheme for the practical relief of a suffering humanity ; 
but, instead, the system has wielded its entire might in opposi- 
tion to almost every new development — has slandered and de- 
nounced as "infidel'' each one who has wrought, independent 
of Sectarianism, to correct abuses in high and low places — 
has set its power against every leading philanthropist who has 
labored to abolish slavery and capital punishment, to reform 
the misdirected voluptuary, and to introduce that practical 
religion which looks to the moral and intellectual regeneration 
of our race, instead of fashionable preaching and praying. 
The pioneers in the cause of the Slave have encountered such 
opposition from popular religionists as did all the first teachers 
of Astronomy, Geology, and Phrenology. Spiritualism, on the 
contrary, has already discovered to the world a multitude of 
the most momentous and practical truths. In the fields of 
science and philosophy, especially in mental philosophy (which 
is foremost with all intelligent, cultured minds) it has revealed 
fresh facts and demonstrated several great general principles. 
The sciences of magnetism, electricity, chemistry, psychology, 
clairvoyance, psychometry, &c, have each received valuable 
additional illustrations and highly suggestive principles from 
some of the departments of spiritualism. 

Does the world refuse such new information ? 

Yes ; such information is superciliously rejected by the de- 
votees of sectarianism — contemptuously repudiated by the ad- 
vocates of expensive churches and the defenders of a paid 
priesthoood. 

But what shall we consider of " practical benefit to mankind ?" 

Whatever increases the sum of human knowledge, and 



QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 209 

augments the joys of the human soul, is beneficial to the 
world. 

Does spiritualism have this effect on humanity ? 

Yes ; spiritualism, in addition to its scientific benefits, has 
brought to light many important religious truths, among which 
are the following : — 

1 . It proves that man is an organized substantial spirit ; 

2. It proves that his organized spirit is immortal ; 

3. It proves that his immortality consists of an infinite series 
of social, moral, and intellectual progressions ; 

4. It proves that all spirits advance from lower to higher 
degrees of existence ; 

5. It proves that this world is not a providentially probation- 
ary " vale of tears" — that it is not a fleeting show, for man's 
illusion given — but that it is the beginning of his eternal and 
more blessed career ; 

6. It proves that the popular doctrine of " total depravity," 
is false ; that mankind as well as all Nature is progressive — 
ascending from every kind and shade of imperfection ; 

7. It proves that the popular doctrine of "Hell punish- 
ments," is false ; that, instead, each individual is obliged, by 
a law of his own being, to work out either in this life or the 
next, his own salvation from error and all manner of sinfulness. 
No vicarious atonement ; because punishment or pain is the 
legitimate and inevitable result of transgression. 

These are a few of the prominent " practical benefits" of 
spiritualism. How unspeakably superior is all this to modern 
theology ! Modern theology can not prove the immortality of 
the soul ; nor can it demonstrate anything to the satisfaction 
of intelligent minds except this — that it originated in the East, 
in the darkest recesses of tradition and superstition, and that, 
in its present form, it has proved itself quite incapable of bles- 
sing and harmonizing mankind. 

What is spiritualism in the estimation of some of its advocates % 

Some define spiritualism to be, " the principle, the essence, 
the science of life." They say that " it reaches down through 
the various gradations of animal, vegetable, and mineral nature 

14 



210 QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 

to the most elementary forms, and up through the various 
spheres of human development to the Divine Being." 

Is this definition correct ? 

No ; inasmuch as the term spiritualism is used to represent 
a certain state of religious development, it can not be made so 
all-embracing in its scope. Were it so, every subject would 
necessarily " arrange itself under the head of spiritualism," 
and every human being, of whatever belief, profession, or con- 
dition, would be a spiritualist. There are three great articles 
of faith, and three only, which (without forming a creed) are 
generally adopted by all who are willing to be considered spir- 
itualists. 

"What is the first of these three articles of faith ? 

That man, as to his internal, is an organized spirit. 

What is the second 1 

That after the event called physical death, his spirit, pre- 
serving its individuality, and all its endowments, goes forward 
and gains a higher and better state of existence. 

What is the third ? 

That after having become acclimated, so to say, to that 
world, and acquainted with its customs, and with the great 
recent discovery that a communication can be had with re- 
maining relatives, that spirit can come back and demonstrate 
its existence ; dispensing not only social harmony but also oc- 
casional moral and intellectual feasts at spiritual tables. 

Will the adoption of this faith prepare the mind for general reform 1 

Yes ; spiritualism is the fourth, the grandest, the most im- 
portant movement of the nineteenth century. It is breaking 
up the creeds and institutions of the land, and sending their 
former devotees out into the fields of investigation, to seek for 
principles of interpretation by which to understand the remark- 
able facts which are pressing upon the attention of mankind. 
At the same time there is a lack of that unity of effort, which 
I yearn to see in the minds of all who adopt its three princi- 
ples of faith. 

How can this be remedied ? 

Owing to the recent development of many and various pro- 
gressive ideas which demand interchange of thought and free 



QUESTIONS ON THE EVIDENCES OF IMMORTALITY. 211 

discussion, I deem it to be wisdom to adopt new and improved 
methods for the acquisition and impartation of knowledge. 
And since I believe that true inspiration is universal and per- 
petual, and confined to no particular age or personage, but 
received by the representative minds of both sexes in Science, 
Literature, Art, Philosophy, Spiritualism, History, and Reform ; 
and also that the Public Rostrum should and will in due time 
supercede the private pulpit as a channel of transmitting in- 
struction to the masses ; I would therefore recommend the 
establishment of free platforms on which lectures can be given, 
by those inspired to do so, on everything to be thought of in 
the whole realm of human interest. Thus can we fraternize 
with the progressive and spiritualized talent of all countries, 
and while avoiding the dead sea of sectarianism, become in- 
strumental in the discovery and dissemination of all facts both 
physical and spiritual, and in the promulgation of universal 
truths both terrestrial and heavenly. 



QUESTIONS ON 

THE EFFECTS OF UTILITARIANISM. 



Every dispensation, like a globe, is susceptible of a thousand 
different interpretations. But it will serve our present purpose 
to adopt that classification which is confirmed by all experience. 
The first dispensation was the " impulsive ;" with which was 
associated the principle of perception. The back-brain was 
principally developed ; mostly over the eyes, and between the 
ears. This age of impulse and perception culminated in the 
Mosaic period. The second age was that of " intellect" and 
reflection. The superior portions of the front-brain began to be 
developed. The intellectual faculties observed the earth ; and 
that man must act upon and subdue it, through instrumental- 
ities. Coupled with this discovery, was the disposition to in- 
hale ideas, to absorb truths, to feel out, as by instinct, the great 
principles governing Nature and regulating the soul. This age 
culminated about the time when Christianity had fairly had an 
exposition. Its author and primitive founder foreshadowed the 
age of intellect or reflection. After this there began to ap- 
pear, in different parts of the world, another age, which I call 
" wisdom," including the rudimental manifestations of impulse, 
intuition, reflection, and perception. Coupled with this wisdom 
age was a principle which I call " utilitarianism," or the dis- 
position to work out and embody a thought once conceived. 



214 QUESTIONS ON THE EFFECTS OF UTILITARIANISM. 

At last we arrive at a development of the race, called the 
" practical," which is the beginning of wisdom. 

Do you think that history will corroborate this classification 1 

Yes ; the history of man represents, first, the age of child- 
hood, which is the age of Feeling ; second, the age of manhood, 
which is the age of Thinking ; third, the age of bloomed-ont 
manhood, which is the age of Action. There are persons, at all 
times, in each of these stages. Some minds represent the age 
of " impulse" and perception ; that is, they perceive vastly 
more than they can conceive. There are others who represent 
" intuition ;" such have the power to absorb more ideas than 
they could, under the best of circumstances, embody. Then 
there are yet other minds, who represent the scientific wisdom 
age — the disposition to embody and put directly into practice 
every thought which they can conceive. 

What do you mean by the wisdom age ? 

The first manifestation of the principle of wisdom, is Use ; 
the second, is Justice ; the third, Power ; the fourth, Beauty ; 
the fifth, Aspiration ; the sixth, Harmony. The race has taken 
the first step upon the threshold of the great temple of Wisdom. 
Use is the doctrine of the Nineteenth Century. It will not be 
long in coming to great perfection in Anglo-Saxon achieve- 
ments. Utilitarianism is in the ascendant ; it is the principle 
supreme ; the Gospel, of all in all, to the world at present. 
Men do not ask, in these days, what relation is there between 
" prophet" and " seer" — but, tell us of the mystic relation be- 
tween " Profit" and " Loss." The question once was : " What 
shall we do to be saved ?" — now : " What shall we do to make 
it pay ?" The nativity of the god of the Nineteeth Century 
can be traced, far back through multitudinous genealogies, to 
the threshold of the furnace of Aaron. The " Golden Calf," 
manufactured by that skilful mechanic, is our god. Yet this 
is not depravity ; it gives us no cause for discouragement. 

What is the effect of this utilitarian principle ? 

The first manifestation of the principle of wisdom, is Use. 
Through this principle, it is coming to be seen, that physical 
improvement, that organizational reform, lies at the very foun- 
dation of all spiritual progression. Men must be physically 



QUESTIONS ON THE EFFECTS OF UTILITARIANISM. 215 

well situated, physically developed, physically prepared, before 
they can have an influx of the high, the beautiful, and the 
good. Use hath its every eye fixed upon that which is external, 
fundamental, elemental. Spiritualism has come, as a kind of 
side inspiration, to augment mechanical constructions ; to im- 
prove man's physical circumstances ; to give men leisure for 
spiritual growth. The gospel of Use is the doctrine of weigh- 
ing, measuring, gauging. It is a development which will come, 
eventually, to every man ; telling him whether he is a disciple 
of the past, of the present, or of the future ; telling him that 
he has been weighed in the balance ; telling him that his ideas 
have been gauged ; telling him that his place in the universe 
has already been described. Scientific suggestions will be 
made as to how man shall dispose of his ideas and occupations. 
Utilitarianism will see what are the useful, the beautiful, the 
beneficial. The doctrine of Use will work directly into the 
vitals of the church ; into the vitals of all other departments 
of human life ; into the State ; into the family ; into those re- 
lations which constitute " Home." No department can shut 
itself against the onward march of this principle of investi- 
gation. 

What is the most prominent feature on the face of this century ? 

If you think of Christendom, I reply — Utility. There never 
was a century so utilitarian. Use is the sovereign of men and 
nations. There is now no safety in anything which is not ab- 
solutely, and supposed to be immediately, practical. People 
have no time to lose ; the cars are just ready to start. Every 
one is contriving to accomplish a vast deal in little time and 
less space. Use and economy walk hand in hand. The fine 
arts are considerably neglected. 

"Now sawmills grate in every forest nook, 
Now spindles hum beside each mountain brook; 
Through virgin forests locomotives wail, 
And prairie flowers are crushed beneath the rail; 
Where ocean rolled, so trackless once and free, 
The age of prose stalks forth and maps the sea ; 
And the swift lightning — once celestial fire — 
Does drudgery in harness — on a wire; 
While patents fill the air, bestride the wave, 
And dog us from the cradle to the grave. 



216 QUESTIONS ON THE EFFECTS OF UTILITARIANISM. 

Machines that rock asleep our infant cry, 
Machines that wait upon our latest sigh; 
We waft by telegraph our love's young dream, 
Live by machinery, and die by steam." 

But poetry is altogether too impracticable. The Promethean 
fire is worthless, to be set aside as a luxury, unless it can be 
made to warm dwellings and feed the igneous stomach of an 
ocean-steamer. Some semi-believers think the golden floor of 
heaven should be mined out, and wrought into eagles endowed 
with wings, to keep up the spirit and balance of commerce. 
Several oriental "ideas — of the lake burning with fire and brim- 
stone — are repudiated ; as being altogether too expensive as 
well as impracticable. In short, the Anglo-Saxon wants noth- 
ing which " don't pay." He studies prices ; not pictures : 
loves policy ; not poetry : wants facts ; not fancies. His friend- 
ships, and his marriage even, are measured by profit and loss. 
His standard is compounded of money, history, fashion, selfish- 
ness. He is anxious to possess a large share of business grati- 
tude and of business friendship ; but any gratitude or any friend- 
ship outside of business relations, is wholly useless — " It don't 
pay" — it is too poetic and sentimental. 

Is not such utilitarian selfishness deplorable ? 

Yes ; it is a great grief that the money-grasping propensities 
of the Anglo-Saxon should so hold in check the growth of his 
his higher nature ; counting the emotions of his inward spirit 
as merchandise, to be used as business (and only as business) 
demands their combined exercise. The motto of the age is — 
" Go ahead." " It don't pay" to linger in the rear ; to be 
outdone by your neighbor. If you manufacture any useful 
commodity, let no man excel you ; not even do as well ; for 
your customers will leave you and seek the other whose goods 
are preferable. 

What is the immediate consequence ? 

The consequence is, the selfish, isolated competition of the 
age is unparalleled. There is an individual race for Success ' 
The most useful, the most economical, the most saleable arti- 
cle, is the thing which all Christendom is striving to obtain, 
by individual effort ; and all advantages surround him who has 



QUESTIONS ON THE EFFECTS OF UTILITARIANISM. 217 

" the means" to his order. There is a wish to invent a " per- 
petual motion" which shall be self-feeding, self-regulating, gen- 
erous-hearted enough to furnish itself with all requisite motive 
power, and to perform the extra work men may desire. But 
inasmuch as the universe is as yet the only perpetual motion, 
and the only one possible to exist, I think nearly all dreaming 
and toil on this scheme will prove unprofitable. And yet 
every effort at invention is useful, because : — 

"This is true — that you can never 
Seek to know, and fail in finding; 
Seek an End, and it will ever 

Grow more .near, and be less blinding." 

But will there no good come out of utilitarianism 1 

Yes ; because, although it is true that the utilitarian ten- 
dency of the age leads unfortunately to the degradation, tempo- 
rarily, of many of the best impulses of our common nature, yet 
will there surely grow of it a class of circumstances exceed- 
ingly beneficial to the lower and middle portions of society. 

Can you explain how such "good" will come ? 

I will try. The motto of all go-a-head-men is — " Multum 
in parvo" — or, much in little. The law is, use with economy. 
With such an impulse, and with such a law, I think it is not 
difficult to anticipate a variety of permanent blessings. For 
instance : the energetic men of this century, having assumed 
great and numerous mercantile responsibilities, requiring con- 
stant vigilance and extraordinary despatch, must have recourse 
to more economical systems of spelling and writing the English 
language. It costs too much time to learn at school the sys- 
tem now so popular ; it takes too much labor to write a long 
explanatory business letter under the present plan. Conse- 
quently, " it don't pay." This is a sufficient discovery ! The 
next step, therefore, will be a prospective reformation in the 
art of spelling and writing. There will be a general ortho- 
graphic, chirographic, and phonographic reform ; making it far 
easier to communicate thought, take less time, and with greater 
perfection, than can be attained under the popular system. 

" I have just received," says Rev. D. D. Wheedon, of Long 
Island, " from a friend in Cincinnati, a mysterious epistle. 



218 QUESTIONS ON THE EFFECTS OF UTILITAKIANISM. 

"which may form a small text for a large discourse. It is 
a letter of so tiny a magnitude that the full sheet, single fold, 
is not larger than the envelop which enshrines it. Its weird 
and winding chirography looks like an Arabian spell, and its 
dainty dimensions might make you think it a missive from the 
king of the dwarfs. Yet brief as is its apparent length, and writ- 
ten, as it was, with a telegraphic rapidity, it really embraces 
as much matter as an ordinary well-filled sheet of note-paper. 
I read [ri d] with the ease of fairly-written text, and feel a 
sort of gratified sense of power in the fact that the same feat 
of compressed performance is accomplished in written corre- 
spondence, that M'Cormick's reaper wins in the harvest, or the 
steam locomotive in our travel. Those cabalistic stringlets on 
that diamond little page, my fair friend, is Phonography ; and 
you and Phonography ought to be better acquainted." 

"Our living flocks of thought," says Henry Sutton, "need 
no longer trudge it slowly and wearily down the pen and along 
the paper, hindering each other, as they struggle through the 
strait gate of the old hand-writing ; our troops of feelings need 
no more crawl, as snails crawl, to their station on the page ; 
regiment after regiment may now trot briskly forward, to fill 
paragraph after paragraph ; and writing, once a trouble, is now 
at breathing ease. Our kind and loving thoughts, warm and 
transparent, liquid as melted from the hot heart, shall no longer 
grow opaque, and freeze with a tedious dribbling from the 
pen, but the whole soul may now pour itself forth in a sweet 
shower of words. Phonotypy and Phonography will be of use 
in the world not dreamed of but by few. Ay, and shake your 
heads as ye will, they will uproot the old spelling ; they will 
yet triumph over the absurdities of the dead age." 

What shall be done to annihilate the distance between the Producer and the 
Consumer ? 

In the midst of utilitarian developments, I think there stands 
a relic of feudal times, which needs the genius of Use and 
Economy applied to it. Time and space, in commerce, have 
been comparatively destroyed by steam and lightning. The 
road to prosperity, or to bankruptcy, is shortened by countless 
business facilities. No man need spend more th.2cn.five minutes 



QUESTIONS ON THE EFFECTS OF UTILITARIANISM. 219 

of liis valuable time to calculate the number of miles between 
any two cities, countries, or continents. The " Traveller's 
Guide" tells him the whole for a shilling, even to all the dol- 
lars and cents the journey will cost, together with the hours 
and minutes necessary to its accomplishment. If he can't spare 
the time to go, then he can command the nation to convey his 
letter thither ; or send the fleet lightning instead, to make an 
apology and do the business. 

Intelligence is not confined to particular localities. Tele- 
graphic wires stretch along the principal roads, and sketch the 
world's news upon your breakfast-table. The locomotive's 
whistle may be heard from every hill. The morning paper, 
fed by the intelligence of the country, informs the whole family 
of everything incidental, literary, or commercial, which has 
transpired in any portion of the preceding twenty-four hours. 
The road to learning is not royal, yet it is difficult to remain 
ignorant. " It don't pay." Each and everything is " done 
up" with railroad speed — even to jumping the yawning chasm 
of a draw-bridge, shattering cars and passengers into shapeless 
fragments. The speed, and excitment, and feverishness, and 
chicanery, of mercantile and commercial avocations, are 
equalled by nothing outside the brazen gates that close upon 
the dungeons of perdition. Meanwhile, let us inquire : — 

What progress has society made toward the abolition of the antagonisms be- 
tween the interests of producers and consumers 1 

I have space allotted only to brief answers. The world 
would do well to read Charles Knight's recent " Yiew of the 
Productive Forces of Modern Society, and the Results of La- 
bor, Capital, and Skill." Working-men and working-women 
are the most afflicted portion of our race. They work, for the 
most part, under the most depressing circumstances. They 
live and have their being at a great disadvantage. Unless 
capricious Fortune seems to smile especially upon their efforts, 
laboring people, in the present social disorder, are most likely 
to be kept down in the cess-pools of poverty, simply by the an- 
tagonism between labor and capital. He who, by industry and 
personal integrity, has rescued his family from ignorance, 
wretchedness, and crime, deserves the gratitude of "all his fel- 



220 QUESTIONS ON THE EFFECTS OF UTILITARIANISM. 

low-men ; because, under the antagonistic interests of our 
present social construction, it is unspeakably difficult for a la- 
boring man to earn enough to meet the current expenses of his 
family, and at the same time avoid debt and dishonesty. If he 
does this in cities, he must forego almost every species of com- 
forting luxury, and all cultivated amusements. 

What are the poor man's disadvantages ? 

His disadvantages are very numerous. If he be a mechanic, 
then there are, probably, certain months in each year when his 
services are not required. But his house-rent and family ex- 
penses go on just the same as when his labor is in demand. 
The wealthy man can pay cash for his drygoods and groceries, 
can purchase them at wholesale prices, which gives him the 
advantage. But the poor man must buy in small quantities, 
must pay high interest for credit, and so lives at a perpetual 
loss. When he goes to the market, he pays the butchers and 
stall-keepers 50 per cent, more than the original cost of the 
articles. When he goes to the grocer, he must defray the 
accumulated and combined profits upon, tea, sugar, soap, mo- 
lasses, etc. : first, of the producer ; second, of the whole- 
sale merchant ; third, of the retailer. Here is a mass of 
profits which the consumer must pay, and he must work hard, 
and live very economically, to do it. Again, when he wants 
muslin, cloth, and calico, for his family, he must pay sufficient, 
over and above the actual cost and value of these fabrics 
originally, to support the manufacturer, the various second- 
handers and wholesale go-betweens, and lastly, the merchant 
of whom the goods are purchased. Now this is all wrong ; it 
don't pay. The laboring-classes — who produce all the wealth 
there is in the country — are the constant and only real suffer- 
ers under this system. 

What is a prominent injustice of this system? 

While the manufacturer, the wholesale merchant, and the 
flourishing retailer, can live in fifty-thousand-dollar houses, en- 
vironed with all the comforts and privileges thereof, the poor, 
hard-working man and woman, with a large family of children 
to feed, and clothe, and educate, are compelled to occupy un- 
comfortable rooms (for which they pay a high rent), and toil 



QUESTIONS ON THE EFFECTS OF UTILITARIANISM. 221 

perpetually on, ofttimes without the least glimmering of a 
hope that their circumstances will ever improve. Again we 
ask — 

What shall be done to annihilate the distance between Labor and Capital — 
between Producer and Consumer ? 

I might give you my reply to this question ; but you should 
find the true answer by reflection. All the multitudinous com- 
plications of the mercantile world must be supported. Be- 
tween the Producer and the Consumer there now exist, in all 
kinds of industry, numerous intermediates. These produce 
nothing. They add nothing valuable to the world. They 
serve as speculating go-betweens. But they must all be fed, 
clothed, and enriched ; and the laboring-classes must do it all. 
These must support all non-producers. But how ? By direct 
taxation ? No. How otherwise ? In this way : Producers 
support non-producers by paying higher prices for everything 
they purchase, and by paying rents to landlords, who out of 
it pay the taxes. This popular speculating, this fashionable 
subsisting upon the labor of the servants of Poverty, is becom- 
ing well-nigh intolerable. The homage that Capital requires 
of Labor is beginning to be insupportable and detestable. In- 
dustrial communities are seeking the remedy. Some efficient 
plan must soon be instituted to relieve the poor man from his 
manifold oppressive disadvantages — to give him a fair and 
equal chance to enjoy his existence — to emancipate him from 
the mountainous interests and antagonisms that now oppress 
and keep him in bondage to Poverty — or, we shall experience 
rebellions, and turmoils, and revolutions, in our social and judi- 
cial departments, which neither riches nor eloquence can pre- 
vent or allay ? 

Is American Slavery sanctioned by the American Priesthood 1 

Yes ; there is a cotton-thread, extending from Maine to Lou- 
isiana, which, being more profoundly revered than the princi- 
ple of Justice, is allowed to hold together the United States 
and the United Churches. Among Churches I know of some 
glorious exceptions. In business the agitation of the Slavery 
question " don't pay ;" so the Churches furnish a " Thus saith 
the Lord" in favor of the institution. Hundreds of laymen 



222 QUESTIONS ON THE EFFECTS OF UTILITARIANISM. 

have most nobly withdrawn from the Churches solely on this 
account. And now, when the clergy begin to make the dis- 
covery that such seceding from sectarianism " don't pay" — 
that it sets a bad example to godless persons who have never 
joined it — they begin very complacently to preach its "ulti- 
mate extinction," that Slavery will finally die out, and say 
" the genius of Christianity does not warrant its perpetuation." 
And so it is, in this as in everything else, the human mind — 
the people — outgrow certain discords and errors, and first 
remonstrate against them from the rostrum and the press, and 
make new discoveries, labor to spread comfort and civilization 
around, and, by persistent inquiry and invincible energy, finally 
succeed in converting an ignorant priesthood to the measures 
of practical reform. 

Do you mean to affirm that the Priesthood is intentionally utilitarian in its 
opposition ? 

Yes ; printing, for example, the chief agent and angel of civ- 
ilization, was opposed. Why ? Because it would enlighten 
the people on ecclesiastical matters. This would interfere 
with the monopoly of the priesthood. The people, who, they 
say, have no rights, would begin to discuss the merits of the 
so-called infallible dogmas. So the glorious art of Printing 
was once denounced as an invention of the devil. But these 
blessings are now enjoyed equally by saint and sinner ; in spite 
of all bigotry and venerable superstition. The present race of 
clergymen would laugh, should it be seriously urged that 
printing and the sciences were projections from the devil. But 
they are far from being healed of the old malady. In our very 
midst, they raise the cry of " Infidelity and demonism," at 
every fresh revealment. Every new revelation is from the 
devil. Why ? Because " it don't pay ;" and, merchant-like, 
they repel it. But, thank God ! there are always outcasts and 
anathematized persons who will entertain the " stranger" — the 
new-comer — and when the new thing proves itself to be an 
angel, and becomes popular and pays well, then the Church 
throws wide open its doors, invites it to a cushioned seat in the 
synagogue, and proclaims it "ours" — a blessing "brought by 
Christianity" — while, in truth, the blessing came of human 



QUESTIONS ON THE EFFECTS OF UTILITARIANISM. 223 

progress, forcing its way through every species of ignorance 
and aristocratic bigotry. 

Docs utilitarianism look into prisons and criminals 1 

Yes ; the people, especially those who have thought on the 
subject, begin to discover this important fact — that prisons and 
capital punishments are exceedingly defective methods of de- 
fending the morals and protecting the interests of society. 
This is a business age. Everything must be looked at and 
judged by the mercantile standard of " profit and loss." And 
there are things which do, and things which do not, pay. 
Among others, it is beginning to be seen that the money which 
is now expended to arrest, to condemn, to imprison, and to 
punish, a single criminal, is sufficient, when judiciously and at 
the right time appropriated, to educate twenty poor children, 
and to place them in circumstances above the sphere of tempt- 
ation to crime. It will " cost" far less to save fifty human 
beings from crime than it now costs to punish ten without 
improving them. But let me ask : — 

Does the Church propose any reformation in this direction 1 

Not at all. It will oppose the measure until opposition no 
longer pays. When the people announce their determination 
to carry through this reform — then, as they always have, the 
sponsors of theology will jump upon the platform, and exclaim, 
" Oh, we alivays thought so /" 

"Will you specify some of the material improvements of utilitarianism ? 

Yes ; the first material improvement, which I have carefully 
contemplated, will pertain to the atmosphere. Several medi- 
ums have foreshadowed this fact. Through the semi-satisfac- 
tory developments of John M. Spear, of Boston, men have 
heard of " electricizers" and " magnetizers" — names of a class 
of sentimental and semi-practical spirits, anxious to bring about 
physical improvements, as stepping-stones to mankind's spirit- 
ual advancement. Atmospheric improvements will come within 
the area and dominion of man's inventions. A harmonious re- 
lation between the planet and the sun will not accomplish it. 
Climatological reforms will be brought about by human inves- 
tigations and systematic industry. The investigations of Hum- 
boldt, and those of Lieutenant Maury, are helps, whereby many 



224 QUESTIONS ON THE EFFECTS OF UTILITARIANISM. 

shipmasters have been enabled to navigate the sea with unusual 
safety. Certain currents of wind may be anticipated. These 
researches show that the atmosphere is regulated by certain 
fixed laws, which, when understood, come within man's imme- 
diate use. Meriam, on the heights of Brooklyn, is calculating 
the circles of cold and heat. He is showing that the changes 
of the atmosphere may be calculated, as eclipses are ; and 
mapped out, as men put down the weeks and months of the 
year. The different aerial phenomena are to be classified 
under fixed Laws. Through the instrumentality of machinery, 
man will control aerial currents, and produce that state of 
climate and temperature which will augment the soil's pro- 
ductiveness. By arrangements of electricity and magnetism, 
he may prevent extreme heat or cold ; also, drouths and dis- 
astrous storms. Man's power is limited by nothing save infin- 
ity and omnipotence. If man can comprehend the laws of 
the atmosphere, his knowledge foreshadows the ability to con- 
trol their phenomena. Laws which govern the propagation 
and existence of human beings, once enveloped in mystery, are 
now within man's control. Having ascertained these laws, the 
children of men will soon improve before as well as after birth, 
and will feel themselves one day but " little lower than the 
angels." 

Will the principle of Use bring agricultural improvements ? 

Yes ; progress in agriculture will come upon the world. 
But too many agriculturists, like men in the churches, have 
worn the thinking-caps of their forefathers. However, as such 
minds increase in spiritual knowledge, there will be agricultu- 
ral improvements. Farmers will be able to double, treble, and 
quadruple the crops of their fields ; and, by machinery, to store 
up every season two or three times the quantity they now do, 
and with much less trouble to either head or hand. Just in 
proportion as population increases the demand for food, so will 
there be an increase of machinery to do the labor of the hands : 
giving the head leisure to make more progress in spiritual and 
higher departments. The Anglo-Saxon is certain to make his 
head save his hands ; he will combine both, to save the heart. 
The expansion and distribution of benefits, growing out of agri- 



QUESTIONS ON THE EFFECTS OF UTILITARIANISM. 225 

cultural reforms, will be commensurate with the increase of pop- 
ulation. At the present rate of increase, without the discount 
of war and epidemics, there will be nearly a hundred millions 
of people in the United States fifty years hence, and possi- 
bly eleven millions of slaves ! Therefore, in the year 1900 
there will be a greater demand upon the soil and sea. But I 
think that improvements in agriculture will be numerous and 
absolute : and all people will surely have an abundance. Al- 
though there will then be three times the present number of 
individuals, yet methinks each will have more leisure to im- 
prove, and hold intercourse with the spiritual. 

.. What effect will such farm-work exert upon the merchant ? 

Machinery will increase the value of farms so much, and the 
use of magnetism in combination with electricity will so beau- 
tify and multiply the crops, that farming will be considered 
more popular and profitable than storekeeping. Men of youth 
and means will associate and form vast farming and industrial 
monopolies. And were it not for the distribution of property, 
the result of our limitation laws, we should have the old feudal 
system temporarily established in the United States. Little, 
selfish farmers, unable to compete, would be swallowed by the 
great ones ; farming associations would multiply, and become 
popular ; but the results would be every way beneficial to me- 
chanics and the skilful professions. Such improvements will 
exert an effect upon the inhabitants of cities ; to draw them out 
into the far-off countries. People now rushing from the country 
to the city will then be drawn back into farming districts ; 
and cities, as now existing, shall be changed. There will be 
more Brotherhood — better opportunities for enjoyment — such 
as now exist upon Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. 

Will there be still greater utilitarian improvements in factories ? 

Yes ; in the year 1808, the first piece of broadcloth was 
made in the United States, by Arthur Scofield.* He was from 

* The following advertisement appeared in the Pittsfield " Sun," November 2, 
1800 :— 

"Arthur Scofield respectfully informs the inhabitants of Pittsfield and 
vicinity that he has a Carding-Machine, half a mile west of the meeting-house, 
where they may have their wool carded into rolls for 12| cts. per pound; mixed, 
15| cts. per pound. If they find the grease, and pick and grease it, it will be 10 

15 



226 QUESTIONS ON THE EFFECTS OF UTILITARIANISM. 

Berkshire, Massachusetts. He presented, I think, his first 
piece of broadcloth to James Madison, who was the first Presi- 
dent inaugurated in American broadcloth. That was just forty- 
seven years ago. Since that time, observe the increase of wool- 
len-factories. What a superabundance of improvements ! Bo 
you not behold reasons to believe that improvements will be 
no less active, sure, and progressive, in other departments ? 
From the time that Samuel Slater introduced the system of 
carding into this country, to the present, there has been a race 
of inventions and steady progression. This increase is in it- 
self a vast and surprising manifestation. There are men lying 
upon their backs, keeping vigils all the night long — between 
sleeping and waking — inventing a new factory-wheel, altering 
the spinning-jenny, by which human heads may save human 
hands, and do in a day the work which before required scores 
of men and women. At a glance, you perceive the increase 
of this labor-saving machinery will work no injury to the hu- 
man race. It is the natural result of utilitarianism. Machines 
will furnish you with clothing ; will labor, and lay at your feet 
all you need ; will prepare your food ; and, sometimes, they 
may do your eating. 

Will there be any improvement in materials for garments ? 

Yes ; flax and the cotton-plant already furnish much. But 
there are other herbs, in the forests of North America, which, 
when cultivated by machines invented for the purpose, will 
render considerable slave-work unprofitable. These plants of 
North America — to be found in Pennsylvania and in the State 
of Maine — will be cultivated to some extent, and men will 
be using new materials for garments. Great trees will be 
wrought up into beautiful fabrics ! Scientific discovery is on 
the increase ; she will invoke all Nature. Everything of 
which she asks a question gives back a satisfactory reply. She 
will ask herbs, and grass, and trees, " Can you not give us 
raiment ?" and she will receive an answer, and human society 
will also find a response in clothing equal to anything now pro- 

cts. per pound, and 12| for mixed. They are requested to send their wool in 
sheets, as it will serve to bind up the rolls when done. Also, a small assortment 
of woollens for sale. Pittsfield, Nov. 2, 1800." 



QUESTIONS ON THE EFFECTS OF UTILITARIANISM. 227 

cured from the sheep's back, or from the cotton-fields of the 
South. For Science is the doctrine of Use — of Perception, 
Calculation, Constructiveness, and Ideality. There will be so 
much ease in acquiring a beautiful dress, that a poor family 
may, by ten days' labor, obtain clothing enough to last through 
a whole year. 

"Will utilitarianism bring a reform in the locomotive world 1 

// Yes ; there is to be great improvement in motive-forces ; 
also a method for travelling upon dry land and through the 
air. There are persons mentally capable of receiving inspira- 
tion upon this subject from the Spiritual world. Such inspira- 
tion will bring a new motive force ; by which talented minds 
may increase the speed of travel and the safety thereof. Cars 
may be constructed so that no accident, not even a collision, 
would be dangerous to either passengers or baggage. We 
shall have new and more commodious methods of constructing 
railroad-cars, as soon as the mass of working-travellers can 
afford to pay for luxuries. The most useful will become the 
most agreeable. Every person now wishes for as much as 
possible in little space, even if the concentration is disagreea- 
ble. But more thriftiness will bring more wealth, this more 
luxury, and this will widen our railroads. Instead of the 
present gallery-looking cars, we will have spacious Saloons, 
almost portable dwellings, moving with such speed, that per- 
haps there will be advertisements — " Through to Cali- 
fornia in four days !" These hotel-cars will be of beautiful 
architectural proportions, two stories high, with staterooms and 
saloons for converse, plays, parties, balls, and concerts. These 
travelling-establishments will be as wide as modern dwelling- 
houses, and provided with all the most desirable comforts. 
Railroads must first be straightened through the country, and a 
new motive-power introduced. In presence of these beautiful 
Saloons, it will be difficult to get the cows of the year 1900 
to, take passage upon cars which men now consider so excellent, 
utilitarian, and convenient. 

Will utilitarianism make any discoveries in other locomotive directions 1 

// Yes ; in the almanac language, " look out about these days" 
for carriages and travelling-saloons on country-roads — sans 



228 QUESTIONS ON THE EFFECTS OF UTILITARIANISM. 

horses, sans steam, sans any visible motive-power — moving 
with greater speed and far more safety than at present. Car- 
riages will be moved by a strange, and beautiful, and simple 
admixture of aqueous and atmospheric gases — so easily con- 
densed, so simply ignited, and so imparted by a machine some- 
what resembling our engines, as to be entirely concealed and 
manageable between the forward wheels. These vehicles will 
prevent many embarrassments now experienced by persons 
living in thinly-populated territories. The first requisite for 
these land-locomotives will be good roads, upon which, with 
your engine, without your horses, you may travel with great 
rapidity. These carriages seem (to me) of uncomplicated con- 
struction. We will one day ventilate, and light, and spiritu- 
alize our dwelling-houses, by a very simple admixture of water 
and atmospheric gases — from which combination will also 
spring the new motive-power under present anticipation. 

What progress will men make in atmospheric navigation ? 

I find only one thing necessary in order to have aerial navi- 
gation, viz. : the application of this contemplated superior 
motive-power, which is even now in process of discovery and 
elimination. Deeply impressed am I that the necessary mech- 
anism — to transcend the adverse currents of air, so that we may 
sail as easily, and safely, and pleasantly, as birds — is dependent 
upon a new motive-power. This power will come. It will not 
only move the locomotive on the rail, and the carriage on the 
country-road, but the aerial cars also, which will move through 
the sky from country to country ; and their beautiful influence 
will produce a universal brotherhood of acquaintance. Nations 
await only this : to become closely and intimately fraternized. 
Persons once estranged, when brought in contact, face to face, 
feel the throbbings of a new friendship — or an old pure one 
awakened — which has in itself blessings and promises of broth- 
erhood. Apply this fragment of morality to the influence 
which aerial navigation will exert upon the world, and you 
will at once see how vast must be the national benefits growing 
out of such familiarity. There are many inventive spirits who, 
acting upon the willing faculties of John M. Spear, gave the 
world to understand that a new motive-power was possible. 



QUESTIONS ON THE EFFECTS OF UTILITARIANISM. 229 

Any impartial and intelligent person, who will investigate the 
lectures which preceded and gave rise to the mechanism at 
High Rock Tower, will be at once surprised at the profundity 
of the suggestions, and chagrined not less at the inconsistency 
of the metallic application. There was the obvious mixture 
of the divine with the human. Divine principles can scarcely 
descend into the strictly human sphere without misapprehen- 
sion. Deep and thorough scientific knowledge, spiritually de- 
rived, was dissipated by the human instruments. The received 
theory was unique, although based upon the human structure : 
the absorption of electricity from the atmosphere, and the in- 
corporation of that subtle element, by the polar organization 
of a metallic Idol. Inventive Spirits had their minds earnestly 
at work to develop a new motive-force ; and the principles di- 
vulged, although so sadly misapplied in the first experiment, 
foreshadowed the great era of utilitarian discovery. 

What effect will the farming associations exert upon producer and consumer ? 

These combinations will make a vast alteration in our mer- 
cantile arrangement, so that the difference now existing between 
producer and consumer will be well-nigh annihilated. There is, 
I repeat, altogether too great distance between them, too many 
go-betweens, and too much expensive clerical manipulation. 
There will be agricultural and industrial combinations. They 
will have large common storehouses for certain wards. The 
fraternal principle will come into action ; and harmony will 
be the manifestation of utilitarianism. We shall have frater- 
nal combinations in villages and cities. These will remove 
the unnecessary expenses now incurred by poor families : giv- 
ing them more leisure for the development of spiritual faculties, 
and for the enjoyment of spiritual joys. 

Will utilitarianism do something to harmonize manual labor and machinery % 

Yes ; this is another thing in the Structure of Society which 
needs attention and improvement — the conflict between poor 
men and labor-saving inventions. It don't pay the laboring- 
man to see a few bars of iron and shafts of steel, moved by 
unconscious steam, doing more and better work in one day 
than he can do in twenty ! All our manufacturers must resort 
to Machinery. This is right, and I glory in every new inven- 



230 QUESTIONS ON THE EFFECTS OF UTILITARIANISM. 

tion. But I think a change is necessary — so that every new 
labor-saving invention shall not fall into the hands of Manu- 
facturers, and every laboring-man be driven into new fields for 
subsistence, in absolute competition with Machinery. As So- 
ciety is now constructed, there is no harmony between the 
poor classes and labor-saving Machinery. This fact will lead 
hereafter to great changes. While the conflict continues be- 
tween human beings and the invention of machines for the 
manufacturing of certain kinds of goods — while there contin- 
ues an antagonism between Labor and Capital — so long will 
the preaching of " peace and good-will on earth" be measura- 
bly useless. To love the neighbor, under present arrange- 
ments, don't pay. To be a practical Christian is to be unpop- 
ular. An honest man must leave the business-world, in some 
departments, or the business-world will leave him. In the 
present Structure of Society, in the midst of selfishness, it is 
absurd to expect a manifestation of true religion. Loving your 
neighbor as you love yourself is now little else but a sacred 
poem — so revered, that we pay gentlemen to preach it — but 
" it don't pay" to attempt to live to its requirements. Not 
long since a man was being tried, on the charge of insanity, in 
the city of Hartford. When he was asked to make his own 
statement, he began by saying that " he was a follower of Jesus 
Christ." He went on with the rest of his story very ration- 
ally ; and it was afterward remarked that everything he said 
was sane, except his introduction. 

Can we expect good to result from a well-defined Social Science 1 

Yes ; Social Science will exert that effect between consumer 
and producer which the inventions of Electrical Science have 
already had between cities and continents — namely, the de- 
struction of distance, estrangement, and isolation. Tele- 
graphing is so complete in its operations, that the yesterday's 
news of a whole nation may be heralded to your fireside. So, 
too, the benefits of farms and countries will be brought to you 
scarcely without a thought of expense. We shall have some- 
what to fear from Excess of Luxury. Years hence, look back 
to this hour, contemplate those who are now called popular, 
and you will see that a man is measured by the length of his 



QUESTIONS ON THE EFFECTS OF UTILITARIANISM. 231 

purse ! One day, however, material wealth will not be fashiona- 
ble ; but, instead, he will be most popular who is fraternal and 
harmonious. The tendency of the utilitarian element is, to teach 
man's perceptive faculties the use of implements and instru- 
ments, the use of tools : by which all material departments of 
Nature and Society are to be subdued, and brought into system- 
atic harmony with man's immediate spiritual advancement. The 
head is working to save the hands : and both to save the heart. 
The consequence will be — harmony of hands, head, and heart, 
with the Spiritual World. Let men put confidence in this doc- 
trine of invention, of progress in the material world, as the first 
and lowest necessity. Look through the United States, and see 
shafts of inspiring light let down into minds, dwelling in ob- 
scure places ! The world can not know of the results just 
now. Unconsciously there are persons absorbing light from 
the Spiritual World. These may invent a machine for reap- 
ing, for sowing, for harvesting, and for thrashing, the grains ; 
they may perceive improvements for the advancement of com- 
merce ; or, may see a new method for the lighting, heating, 
ventilating, and spiritualizing, human habitations ! Never was 
there a period when all the faculties circumjacent to the front 
and superior brains were in such a state of utilitarian activity 
and corresponding inspiration. The eventual result will be — 
leisure throughout America, and the development of those in- 
tuitive faculties in man which are now supposed to be merely 
possibilities. 

Do you see any improvements in human habitations ? 

Yes ; the ideas of the Middle Ages, and those of the Nine- 
teenth Century, are to be united in our architecture. Dwelling- 
houses of the future will be built in reference to the symmetri- 
cal development of their inmates. It is not Utopian to expect 
this. Men will find that the cottage, the palace, the castle, 
and several of the intermediate styles, will one day be accumu- 
lated into the Humanitarian Edifices. These magnificent edi- 
fices will cost far less than so many independent, selfish homes. 
One of these edificial hotels will cost no more than a modern 
dwelling, while it will be incomparably more beautiful, and not 
less calculated to improve both the physical character and the 



232 QUESTIONS ON THE EFFECTS OF UTILITARIANISM. 

spiritual faculties. Personal character is benefited, or impaired 
temporarily, according to the shape of its accustomed habita- 
tion. Place a strong-minded man in a perfectly circular room, 
where the eye can fix itself upon not a single angle, and two 
weeks will be sufficient time to produce the madness of insan- 
ity. The first effect would be a sort of agonized bewilderment, 
which would quickly superinduce a savage aberration. Pause, 
then, and meditate upon the marvellous psychological influence 
of external structures. 

Do you expect other utilitarian improvements to precede these reform habita- 
tions 1 

Yes ; subsequent to the improvements of controlling air and 
culturing soil, it will be more easy to build a brace of these 
combined unitary Edifices, for sixty families, than three of the 
fashionable domicils of country-towns and cities. It will be a 
great proud beauty to have such establishments heated and 
lighted by an admixture of aqueous and atmospheric gases — 
the same utilitarian admixture which will produce the motive 
power of land-carriages, railroad vehicles, and aerial ships. 
How beautiful to have such concentration ! Men will unite in 
fraternal embrace and build temples of harmony upon which 
their children can ascend to physical strength and spiritual 
contemplation. No, it is no dream ! I do not describe the 
millennium ! All this is no more wonderful than improvements 
in cotton and woollen factories since the year 1808. In the 
representations of the Future will be represented the structural 
arrangements and architectural analogies furnished by the body 
and soul — a sort of correspondential edificialism, so to speak, 
cellar-rooms, nutritive departments, social saloons, educational 
cabinets, spiritual recesses, harmonious dormitories, and pavil- 
ions for contemplation, each in correspondence with intestines, 
with digestion functions, with affectional departments, with 
perceptive organs, with spiritual functions, and with the intel- 
lectual faculties — each and all parts of an Edifice being rep- 
resented in the physical and mental organization of a human 
being. 

"Will the building materials of the future differ from those in present use 1 

Yes ; we will not go as at present into forests to find the 



QUESTIONS ON THE EFFECTS OF UTILITARIANISM. 233 

best materials. Humanitarian habitations will be constructed 
of a lithologic composition which may be readily manufactured. 
And men will perceive new uses for gutta-percha in combina- 
tion with iron and artificial marble. Such materials will be 
employed for portable dwellings. For example : here are two 
persons to be married this very night, upon the best principles 
of conjugal harmony. To-morrow morning they will visit 
places where portable houses may be ordered ; they look over 
the architectural fashions ; they issue an order for a house to be 
built in the country : everything to be ready for housekeeping, 
furniture and all arranged, in two weeks from date ! Remem- 
ber the first manifestation of the principle of wisdom, in Use. 
Use condenses and harmonizes, so that, ultimately, the fortunes 
and misfortunes of modern selfish house-building will be no 
more. Most easy will it be to have a home ! Mankind may 
one day see that a habitation, composed of artificial lithologic 
materials, will shelter but a small part of that which in reality 
constitutes " a home." Because the true home is composed of, 
and is dependent upon, the existence and the continuation of a 
most blessed harmonial marriage. Having " one to love and 
one to love us" is a haven far better than a house composed 
of gutta-percha, iron, or any artificial substance. 

May we expect a more utilitarian method of acquiring knowledge ? 

Yes ; we are not always to have this tedious method of learn- 
ing to spell and write the English language ; this external sys- 
tem of imparting and enforcing the shadows of ideas. Many 
constitutions are "ruined" by the different irksome and un- 
natural methods of imparting what is called an education. If 
the United States Constitution had not been stronger than 
that of many Yankee children now born, it would have been 
" ruined" the first two weeks by the tyrannical plan of its ec- 
clesiastical and political schooling. Improvements in educa- 
tion will be so great that between the ninth and twelfth year 
— the ninth being the true time for children to commence — 
young minds will obtain more knowledge than they now ac- 
quire with much trouble between the ninth and twentieth. 
Yes ; there will be a beautiful reform in the whole present 
barbarous system of thinking and acquiring thoughts. We 



234 QUESTIONS ON THE EFFECTS OF UTILITAEIANISM. 

have a Harinonial Philosophy to teach : that ideas are not to 
be put into the mind, but elicited ; that the divine character is 
to be progressively carved out of that which we find constitu- 
tionally within the unfolding child. Wisdom is not to be 
superinduced, but developed ; and the educational systems of 
the humanitarian Future will have this object to accomplish. 
Improvement must begin in our alphabet ; next in our orthog- 
raphy ; then in our chirography ; then in our phraseology ; 
and lastly, in some parts of our theology. Phonography has 
discovered how many elemental sounds there are, and has made 
an appropriation of a letter to every such sound. This utili- 
tarian plan will lead to easy spelling ; to the most spontaneous 
and inevitable spelling ; and, finally, also to the most natural 
scheme of penmanship. All this "will be easier and better and 
every way more harmonious — entirely abolishing the present 
discordant system of fretting and storming, which is the usual 
concomitant of the little arbitrary learning men acquire be- 
tween babyhood and their twentieth year. 

"Will you detail some of the utilitarian advantages of the phonetic system ? 

Yes ; there are (as given in a Synopsis by Andrew J. Gra- 
ham*) eleven specific advantages : — 

1. Phonetic Spelling will render reading easy. The art of 
reading with a phonetic orthography can be acquired in about 
forty hours. 

2. It will render spelling easy. 

3. It enables the student, as soon as he has learned the 
Phonetic Alphabet thoroughly, to spell any word with the same 
accuracy that he can pronounce it. 

4. It enables the student, as soon as he has learned the 
Phonetic Alphabet thoroughly, to give any printed word the 
precise pronunciation of the author. 

* Andrew J. Graham has recently opened a Phonetic Academy at the office 
of " The Working Farmer," in Fulton street, New York. This individual is a 
thorough and Cosmopolitan Keformer ; in the phonetic department of utilitarian 
progress. He works sincerely for the elevation of his important science, and, so 
far as possible, has simplified and universalized the phonetic orthography. His 
exemplary devotion and industry, and his skilfulness in following the most rapid 
as reporter, will not go unrewarded. 



QUESTIONS ON THE EEFECTS OF UTILITARIANISM. 235 

5. It will consequently tend to remove the present ignorance 
by opening a ready means for acquiring knowledge ; and mil- 
lions now unable to read may enjoy the benefits flowing from 
a knowledge of reading and writing. 

6. It will render the business of reducing unwritten lan- 
guages to written form, sure and easy. 

7. It will be of essential service to the student of languages, 
in showing him the exact state of a language at a given time. 

8. It will tend most effectually to the general diffusion of 
our language among foreigners, and may complete the numer- 
ous claims which our idiom can already advance, to be used 
as a universal medium of communication between nation and 
nation. 

9. It will save much of that time, money, and labor, now 
lost in merely learning to read and write. The school-days 
of the child will be virtually lengthened by it, and the sphere 
of his studies enlarged ; the teacher will be saved from a vast 
amount of drudgery, and his profession ennobled. 

10. It will result in perfect uniformity of pronunciation. 

11. It will save millions of dollars in the expense of books, 
etc., annually.* 

Do you perceive any plan by which to expedite the art of writing ? 

Yes ; I am almost moved to invent an automatic psychog- 
rapher ; that is, an artificial soul-writer. It may be con- 
structed something like a piano ; one brace or scale of keys to 
represent the elementary sounds ; another and lower tier, to 
represent a combination ; and still another, for a rapid recom- 
bination ; so that a person, instead of playing a piece of music, 
may touch off a sermon or a poem ! Every note, while dis- 
coursing sweet sounds, may catch the type and put it in its 
place ; so that, instead of going through the inevitable mechani- 
cal drudgery of the superior short and beautiful phonetic 
method, ideas may be printed upon the surface of paper pre- 

* "The present writer is prepared with facts by which he could verify the fol- 
lowing position : — that if a child were taught at first on the phonetic principle, 
and, by graduated lessons brought up to a comprehension of the preseut orthog- 
raphy, his reading would be taught at half the time, half the trouble — and 
consequently half the risk of having a distaste for learning engendered by the 
difficulties of his first studies — involved in the present system." — [Dr. Latham.] 



236 QUESTIONS ON THE EFFECTS OF UTILITAPJANISM. 

pared for publication. There mil then be but little time neces- 
sary, and little physical labor required, for a man to tell all 
he knows, and more too ! Men of utilitarian habits will soon 
have confidence in this Psychographer ; it is not more surpri- 
sing than daguerrotyping, or photographing, or ambrotyping. 
These are within the domain of utilitarian discoveries which 
will awaken the Psychographer. 

Will all these inventions aid the spiritual development of the race 1 

Yes ; these improvements and discoveries will refresh the 
soul, give it leisure and prepare it for a natural voyage to 
post-mundane climes. A glorious period is before mankind. 
It will be a kind of material heaven — a preparation for the 
Spiritual Harmonium. In the principles already divulged, in the 
progress of agricultural knowledge, in the new motive-force, in 
the use of implements, in all the chivalric achievements of the 
Nineteenth Century, you may behold foreshadowings of develop- 
ments higher and better. By mere anticipation, we participate 
in the benefits of an improved and happier race. The Spirit- 
ual Harmonium is now enjoyed by the elder planets, Jupiter 
and Saturn. Their inhabitants, centuries since, passed through 
what we are just beginning to experience. By virtue of ana- 
logical reasoning, you may believe that everything, foretold in 
the past regarding man's physical and spiritual happiness, will 
be realized. Believe through your intuitive knowledge and 
radical desires. Fall in love with the new dispensation, through 
Wisdom. Have intelligent confidence in the advancement of 
the material world. Feel that every science which comes, 
through the industry of the human intellect, is another mani- 
festation of eternal principles. Shafts of light are being let 
down upon human faculties. The material world is awake, 
utilitarianism is fortunately in the ascendant, and the spiritual 
world makes a correspondential manifestation. 

Will utilitarianism act beneficially upon American government 1 

This question is not easily answered. American politics in- 
evitably generate hostile parties. These parties do not attempt 
to disseminate the divine principles which underlie and control 
humanity. Political principles are drawn from the experience 
of Europe — from the experience of Greece and Rome — in 



QUESTIONS ON THE EFFECTS OF UTILITAEIANISM. 237 

order to establish precedents whereby to legislate for the day, 
the hour, and the circumstance. Political action does not 
spring from the souls of reasonable men and conscientious wo- 
men. Once there existed " Scribes and Pharisees :" now, in- 
stead, " Whigs and Democrats." Once there were " Publicans 
and Sinners :" now, instead, " .Republicans and Know-Noth- 
ings. " Here is evidence of revolution ; perhaps, also, of prog- 
ress. Politics have brought a quartette of parties into the 
world; and every one is planted upon "the best policies" — 
not upon that which consults the gigantic interests of universal 
mankind. True Religion, Justice, is never once consulted. 
It is a primate American doctrine to have no religion in exist- 
ing politics. Hence, the elements of a time-fostered despotism 
and atheism are lurking in our Democracy. 

Is this temporary despotism wrong ? 

Who will affirm that it is right ? Perhaps, it can not be 
avoided. Perhaps, it is consistent with the progressive devel- 
opment of mankind, that despotism should be asserted with 
democracy. Can we have them separated ? There seems to 
be a natural principle which determines that absolute freedom 
and absolute slavery shall abound in the same latitude. Des- 
potism is the first governmental principle of every nation; 
but, by social development and spiritual progress, the race 
arouses and does battle for equal rights and Liberty. Thus, 
despotism becomes eventually negative ; while individual free- 
dom and national democracy become positive ! The two prin- 
ciples, however, are asserted in the same governmental lati- 
tude. Therefore while we have the highest liberty, in the 
United States, we also have in them the lowest slavery. The 
greatest successes run parallel with the greatest reverses. The 
most splendid days are coupled with the darkest nights. There 
is no sudden way to escape this twofold action of Nature. 

Do you mean to teach that the conservative principle is just as utilitarian as 
the progressive principle ? 

Yes ; it was one day discovered, by scientific railroad-build- 
ers, that the troublesome law of friction is the very best friend 
of safety and locomotion. Friction renders motion possMe. 
So, too, were it not for this principle of conservatism, we 



288 QUESTIONS ON THE EFFECTS OF UTILITARIANISM. 

should not have that on which to adhere, over which to pass, 
and in consequence of which to triumph ! We should not, 
therefore, be merely oppositional reformers. We will achieve 
much Freedom by virtue of the opposition set up by the despotic 
principles of Slavery. 

You said that religion is divorced, in this country, from politics : what do 
you mean 1 

I mean that the natural principle of universal Justice is not 
to be found in our governmental departments. Pure morality 
in politics would be like a star, ascending higher in the firma- 
ment of Nations. The Roman Catholic Church hath a strong- 
hold in criticising American political institutions. Political 
parties do not consult the constitution of man, but the constitu- 
tion of the United States. Party politics have, therefore, a prin- 
ciple of atheism. The people of the United States, in their 
political arrangements, do not enough contemplate distributive 
Justice. The Catholic Church stands as a skeptical critic. 
It is supported by talented men, true to their principles. They 
feel called in conscience to oppose all Constitutions which do 
not look to a supernatural source for political and ecclesiastical 
arrangements. While we preach and proclaim Liberty, we 
practise and sustain Slavery. Unless our politics become 
founded in true religion — in a system which is endorsed by 
the Constitution of Nature — there is nothing to counteract the 
influence of the criticisms emanating from the Romish Church. 
" Your government is godless," they say ; " you do not consult 
the spiritual." We are not enough utilitarian to consult the 
most high in Man, nor yet the Most High in the Spiritual Uni- 
verse. 

"What do you consider the principal enemies to America's perpetuity? 

American dangers are twofold : one is the spirit of Slavery ; 
the other is the spirit of War. War and Slavery are advo- 
cated by the American people ; the primary rocks these on 
which our ship is most likely to be stranded. Now we are 
sailing directly between them — the spirit of war or retaliation 
on one side, and the spirit of slavery or despotism on the other ; 
but there are good and healthy minds in the United States who 
have no sympathy with either. Few persons have attained 



QUESTIONS ON THE EFFECTS OF UTILITARIANISM. 239 

that royal, spiritual summit from which they can perceive that 
universal Peace is the only doctrine of safety on the one hand, 
and that unconditional Freedom is the only doctrine of safety 
on the other. Few can see this, and a less number dare to 
affirm it openly. "We have reason to believe that the influence 
of the Spirit-Land will be felt by the American people ; and 
that, by virtue of much inspiration, they will judge statutes 
and institutions in the light of human nature ! Not the perpe- 
tuity of the American nation merely, but that of all nations, 
is to be considered in the light of Father-God and Mother-Na- 
ture. Better conceptions of Father-God will bring us a higher 
system of government. Not to advance ourselves as a selfish 
nation, but to give an example of strength and righteousness 
to all people. We are not to consider ourselves a nation of 
superior military strength, born to achieve triumphs, and gain 
laurels on the field of blood — to drive all opposing nations 
away, as the Red Man from his native forests. No ! If we de- 
sire to perpetuate our nation, we must go on in a different 
spirit. These political rulers must be interiorly opened and 
expanded, so that they may be recipients of better and higher 
inspirations. There is something else in this universe to appeal 
to besides the utilitarian affections of merchants and commer- 
cialists. Yet the utilitarian element is furtively working good 
in this department ; and we may begin to expect that the poli- 
tics of the United States will manifest, ere long, something of 
the principle of universal religion. The hidden spirit of War 
and the open spirit of Slavery, are the two dangers which men- 
ace our nation's perpetuity. Nothing will enable us to avert 
these two dangers save a utilitarian principle, full of Love and 
Wisdom for all human kind. 



/ 



What do you think of the United States ecclesiastically 1 

In the Church I perceive just what is most obvious in the 
State : the State is Godless, and the Church is Christless. Wo 
preach Jesus, and practise Moses. Men preach that the dis- 
pensation of Jesus must prevail, in order to have peace on 
earth and good-will among men. But almost every law, code, 
or institution, has in it the spirit of Moses. They are stamped 
with the seal of power, not with love ; with force and coercion, 



240 QUESTIONS ON THE EFFECTS OF UTILITARIANISM. 

not with the doctrine of universal Justice. Religion in the 
Churches is like politics in the State ; and, I repeat it, one is 
Godless and the other is Christless. The Church is preaching 
love, but practising force ; and the Government is preaching 
God, but practising something which strongly suggests the op- 
posite personage ! Two incompatible elements animate the 
American people — absolute Tyranny and absolute Freedom. 
Eoman Catholicity represents absolute Despotism, and Harmo- 
nial Philosophy represents absolute Liberty. The first holds 
that institutions are god-originated ; the other, that institutions 
spring out of a progressive humanity. Harmonial Philosophy 
teaches that Liberty is the common inheritance of all men ; the 
Church, that Liberty is dangerous, except when granted as a 
temporary privilege. The Romish Church regards the spirit 
of unconditional Liberty as its strongest antagonist. 

Will these opposite forces continue to agitate each other until they reach dis- 
solution % 

Yes ; and then will arrive a period of utilitarian discussion 
and warlike collision. The spirit of force will spring fearfully 
out of the Church, and the spirit of resistance will start out of 
the people. Between these two antagonisms the American 
people will be involved in civil difficulties ; and established 
Churches will experience severe paroxysms and numerous ec- 
clesiastical convulsions. The great mass of Protestants will 
cling passionately to the spirit of Freedom. But a large mi- 
nority, considering that ecclesiastical " authority" is safer than 
the doctrine of individual sovereignty and extreme radicalism, 
will bow before and embrace the neck of the Mother Church. 
Conservatives always have more fear than perception of prin- 
ciples, and will militate against progressive doctrines by going 
back into the maternal embraces of the Catholic Church. One 
great struggle in America will grow out of a theological ques- 
tion : " Whether God rules the human soul through the church, 
or the church through the human soul ?" This question, me- 
thinks, will one day be put to all the inhabitants of America. 
This will be a Day of Judgment. Tyranny ? or Freedom ? 
Shall we consider ourselves wedded to a Church system ? or 
shall we convert these Churches into Lyceums, and make them 



QUESTIONS ON THE EFFECTS OF UTILITARIANISM. 241 

subserve the utilitarian development of the people ? Utilitari- 
anism will put these questions, and the people will be obliged 
to decide. The decision of one party will bring out a stupen- 
dous resistance ; and the United States, having political and 
ecclesiastical troubles at the same time, will be strangely con- 
vulsed. 

/l What plan would you suggest whereby to avert these national troubles ? 

The nation should pass directly through all this wilderness 
of conflict into the Promised Land. It is now only about half- 
past nine o'clock to the American government, and half-past 
eight in regard to American ecclesiastical progression. This 
question, I repeat, will be put to every soul : " Are you in fa- 
vor of Roman Catholicity, or of Harmonial Philosophy ?" In 
other words : " Are you a friend of the universal and uncondi- 
tional control of human souls by institutions, or of the uncondi- 
tional and unrestricted control of institutions by human souls ?" 
This question will bring a day of great trial to the American 
people. Fearful conservatives will call to mind the fleeting 
republics of Greece ; the little Italian democracies, also, that 
flashed out and bloomed for a day ! Utilitarianism is full of 
encouragement for the American people ; that, as a nation, we 
will bask in eternal wealth and distributed luxuries. Such 
encouragements, to certain temperaments, look like Utopian 
dreams. They remember the republics of Italy — the evanes- 
cent democracies of past times. 

"What do you think of the conscience of the American Church ? 

It is not above the conscience of the Old Testament. They 
preach Jesus, but endorse the enormities of Moses. Love is 
highest right, but force is ordinary good. The American 
Church believes that Liberty is good for all White nations, yet 
Slavery is considered the best state for the advancement of the 
African ! Churches, therefore, have a vital difficulty — border- 
ing rapidly upon consumption — afflicting all departments of 
the constitution, which interferes with the breathing, the diges- 
tion, and the spiritual locomotion, of the American people. 
There is not a State, in the whole system of American govern- 
ment, but is more or less implicated by this terrible disease, 
viz. : lack of God in the State, lack of Christ in the Church. 

16 



242 QUESTIONS ON THE EFFECTS OF UTILITARIANISM. 

Yet no one can doubt but that there are conscientious men and 
women in the Churches. The Church's conscience is scarcely 
higher than the country's godless politics. Between the two 
we find that which every reformer should be alarmed at, name- 
ly — a systematic disease, permitting the steady encroachment 
of War and Slavery. Most people, therefore, believe that par- 
tial Slavery is the true way of the world. We deserve a system 
of religion which will not generate false ideas of man, of Father- 
God, and Mother-Nature. In the American Church, let it be 
remembered, there are Unitarians, Universalists, and Quakers, 
preaching a higher class of negative truths. But their influ- 
ence is hemmed in, and absolutely debilitated, by the encroach- 
ments of institutional authority. Unitarians are fearful of 
being considered too infidel ; therefore, they work themselves 
deeper and farther into popular ecclesiasticisms. Liberal Chris- 
tians fear lest they may transcend the wisdom of the past times, 
and become wise above what is written. Certain Unitarian 
gentlemen may be seen, with white gloves and sugar-tongs, 
touching Slavery very gracefully, and very beautifully alluding 
to Intemperance. The American Church does not appeal in- 
telligently to the topmost human faculties. 

In what is the American Church most deficient ? 

The American Church is most defective in its doctrines con- 
cerning Man and the Divine Existence. Universalists have 
done much to bring in a system of natural ecclesiasticism, fa- 
vorable to man, and promulgating a higher report of Deity. 
The principal mischief of the Church arises from its barbarous 
opinions. It has no complete conception of a Divine Being. 
Its conceptions of God are well-nigh satanic, and its ideas of 
man are extremely subversive. Under the influence of the 
American Church, a man sees himself to be worthless. The 
God of the American Church is not half as good as the Devil 
who was elaborated by Zoroaster ! It is eloquently preaching 
whatsoever is lovely, beautiful, poetical, magnificent ; but, at 
the same time, it is practising much which is forcible, hateful, 
insignificant, and opposed to the doctrines of Distributive Jus- 
tice. The doctrine, " Let no one call God his Father who calls 
not man his brother," has been intimated in all ages of the 



QUESTIONS ON THE EFFECTS OF UTILITARIANISM. 243 

world. ' I put my ear to the key-hole of human history, and 
can hear the beatings of the heart of Confucius, all the way 
across the centuries. This doctrine was first uttered by the 
man who rose to the summit of humanity. But listen to the 
American Church, and you will hear no such universal princi- 
ple advocated. It is poetic, elocutionary, overflowing with 
symbols and magnificent pictures. But the slaves of " the 
peculiar institution" are not " Brethren" in the light of the 
American Church. Even liberal Churches are not free from 
this prejudice. This fact amply demonstrates that American 
Churchianity is not willing to endorse the doctrine of univer- 
sal relationship — the doctrine, " Let no one call God his Fa- 
ther who calls not man his brother." It is good to preach the 
golden rule, but the time has not come to jDractise it ! Utili- 
tarian policy is paramount to principle. The conscience of 
the State is endorsed by the conscience of the Church. When- 
ever the State enacts a law, even though it be against the free- 
dom of all xlfrican people, the Church, as a general fact, will 
silently endorse it. 

Will utilitarianism develop a new theology 1 

Yes ; a practical age will bring a new conception of Deity, 
and a new conception of man. The laws written upon man's 
inmost nature are more utilitarian than the ten commandments. 
These are the laws of Deity. Reverence for the principles of 
human nature is more utilitarian than adhesion to the enact- 
ments of institutions. Yes ; we are on the threshold of an era 
when a new God is to be introduced to mankind. 

What will utilitarianism demand in order to inaugurate this new God ? 

It will call for Teachers to protest against bad laws and speak 
in favor of good ones. Eeligion must preside over political 
movements. Matrimonial association, of the new State with 
the new Church, is to be contemplated. Harmonial political 
movements will be divinely influential in moulding and regu- 
lating humanity. The great thing to be expected from the 
religious element of utilitarianism is : a new God to regulate 
the world, and a new Idea of man by which humanity will be 
elevated and encouraged. This Harmonial religion will not 
contemplate creeds and organizations, but only whatsoever will 



244 QUESTIONS ON THE EFFECTS OF UTILITARIANISM. 

serve as stepping-stones to distributive Justice. Universal 
Justice is the highest manifestation of religion ; and morality- 
is the practice of it. A proximate manifestation of true reli- 
gion will result from the utilitarian movements of the Nine- 
teenth Century. This harmonial dispensation of Justice will 
ultimately override all distinction of races, all organizations, 
institutions, and all that in them is ; at once revealing to indi- 
vidual man that he embosoms a pure imperishable angel ; that 
Father-God liveth throughout all the domains of Mother-Na- 
ture ; and that the earth's inhabitants may for ever love, wor- 
ship, labor, and be happy. 

Will anything rescue us from plunging hopelessly into one or both of those 
great errors, War and Slavery ? 

We may be measurably rescued by extending the American 
utilitarian idea of politics, and unfolding and enlarging the 
American Conscience. The rostrum should supersede the pul- 
pit ; and teaching should supersede preaching. 

Will utilitarianism influence modern spiritualists ? 

Yes ; but their present danger is twofold : external and orga- 
nal. In spiritualism we find the utilitarian tendency to external- 
ism and organization ; both of which will measurably interfere 
with progression. Spiritualists will experience the contact of a 
Godless system of politics on one side and a Christless system 
of religion on the other. Utilitarianism will discover that 
spiritualism is subserving a great development. Use points 
toward a reform of Church and State. Spiritual utilitarianism 
works for a new idea of God and a better conception of man. 
Mankind must rub their eyes and obtain a clear perception of 
their relations as men and women, as husbands and wives, as 
brothers and sisters, as post-mortem delegates to the spiritual 
world. 

Does utilitarianism welcome the Spiritual Dispensation 1 

Yes ; it is coming to be seen that it don't pay to shut one's 
eyes against the incoming light. The new dispensation, like 
a star in the cloudless horizon, already shines upon man's path- 
way. That star shall glow and broaden, " until it hangs 
divine and beautiful in the proud zenith," filled with angels' 
faces : the loving companions of his pilgrimage, shedding new 



QUESTIONS ON THE EFFECTS OF UTILITARIANISM. 245 

light upon men at every turn in the path of life. The old 
heavens, the old earth, the old theology and its god, shall be 
destroyed by the light of Harmonial Truths. " For, behold," 
says an oriental medium, " the day cometh that shall burn as 
an oven — and the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall 
be stubble." Hence theologians and politicians will find at 
last that it don't pay to shut their eyes against the higher law 
of Truth and Justice. To every faithful progressionist, to all 
hospitable friends of the Harmonial Dispensation, the Sun of 
Righteousness will arise with healing in his wings, and myriad 
spirits will joyfully become their fellow-workmen. Most grateful 
am I for the utilitarian proclivities of the age. They will help 
to destroy all fictions. The doctrine of " profit and loss" will 
eventually put each thing — in church and state, in man and 
society — to the test of Use and Economy. And thousands of 
absurdities will be abandoned : because they don't pay. 

Will the doctrine of utility be applied to modern law and government ? 

Yes ; although we have the best country in the world, with 
the best government, yet are we very far from that harmonial 
condition of reciprocal interests in which Law and Liberty will 
be synonymous. As a nation we need less government and 
more growth. Our laws should be more comprehensive and 
harmonial. Mankind will create laws, I think, as long as they 
remain beneath the plane of Wisdom. In fact, laws are natu- 
ral and necessary to transitional stages. But, in our pro- 
gressed condition, it won't pay to have Laws enforced which do 
not subserve the welfare of the individual as well as the whole. 
Our - laws, as I shall hereafter show, are now against the rights 
of Individuals. The African race have no rights under our 
laws. Our laws grant but few liberties and fewer rights to 
women. Our laws favor the Capitalist. The legal rights of 
those persons are protected who have money to pay for them. 
Our laws seek the imprisonment, not the improvement, of the 
unfortunate offender. The offender is regarded as a wilful 
foe to society ; not as a misdirected member of a common 
Brotherhood. Hence, our laws seek his punishment ; not his 
development. Viewed in a utilitarian light, there is much in 
such laws which don't pay. 



246 QUESTIONS ON THE EFFECTS OF UTILITARIANISM. 

Do we entertain ideas of Liberty which don't pay ? 

Yes ; there are many minds who imagine that individual Lib- 
erty means, or ought to mean, unrestrained license or reckless- 
ness. Whereas Liberty is a sacred Principle — a power unto 
salvation — a flower, blooming with an immortal beauty. At 
first, like everything else, it comes from the soil. It springs 
up in the midst of thorns and thistles. But moved forward 
by the powers of progression, it transcendeth all terrestrial 
hindrances, and towereth grandly above: spreading its 
branches in all directions, like the kingly oak on the mount- 
ain's summit. 

Is Liberty a radical law of the human mind ? 

Yes ; Liberty, as a radical law of mind, has struggled and 
labored on the tides of ages : as a ship with waves and storms. 
Amid the consolidations of monarchy — amid rocks and sand- 
bars thrown up, in the sea of human experience, by Caracalla 
and Tiberius, Nero, Commodus, Caligula, and the nocturnal 
workers of modern days — amid all, Liberty has marched 
steadily onward : with the strength of Justice and the fear- 
lessness of Truth. Although feloniously assaulted now and 
then, and well nigh wrecked upon the blood-stained coasts of 
tyranny, yet has Liberty gained, in safety and with a glorious 
triumph, new and better continents : ladened with divinest bles- 
sings. 

Have men never lost confidence in the idea of Liberty becoming universal % 

No ; the Greek democracies, the Roman Laws of suffrage, 
the Italian Republics of the middle ages, the efforts of different 
races, evolved by Liberty from the very womb of darkness and 
despotism itself, have conserved the high purpose of keeping 
man's faith alive in the potentiality and divinity of the Principle. 
High above the thundering uproar and clashing tumult of the 
semi-barbarian age, stood the natural apostles of humanity — 
Dante, Petrarch, Tasso, Raphael, Michael Angelo, Galileo, 
and others — flinging a luminous beauty o'er the tragedy 
of the times : foreshadowing an era of refinement, of science, 
of civilization, and Universal Liberty ! And all the friends 
of humanity still press forward to that Era. The continent of 



QUESTIONS ON THE EFFECTS OF UTILITARIANISM. 247 

real organic Freedom is still in the future : to be discovered 
and peopled. 

When was the doctrine of human Brotherhood first proclaimed % 

The ship of human Brotherhood, with all nations on board, 
was launched countless centuries since. At first, it was but a 
rude sailing vessel, illy constructed and equipped, managed by 
kings and tyrants, with recurring signs of mutiny and revolt ; 
the crew against the masters ; left often thus to struggle with 
the storms of ignorance, passion, avarice, and superstition, 
barely escaping the perils of utter destruction. Finally, how- 
ever, in a propitious hour, this eternal ship, leaking and dam- 
aged at all points, will be drawn upon the stocks of Reason — 
examined, and converted by the aid of new material, into a 
magnificent ocean steamer, freighted with the best interests of 
all men, and piloted no more by priests and kings, but by 
the Father-God and Mother-Nature. Thus circumstanced, we 
will joyfully glide away, with the highest hopes and fullest 
confidence of all on board : believing that, in accordance with 
the working of immutable Laws, our ship will eventually reach 
the Plymouth Rock of a Harmonial United States — the haven 
of a new world — where Love and Light and Law and Liberty 
will be integral — flowing on through human affairs, musically, 
like the voice of many waters. Liberty ! Thou speakest, 
from the fountain-centres of the Universe, to the heart of 
universal Man. Liberty! Thou thrillest the bosom of the 
world. Liberty ! In true souls thou kindlest a fire of bound- 
less Love. Liberty ! The ages have borne sublime witness to 
thy divine majesty. Liberty ! There is an immortal melody 
in thy Thought. Liberty! Hearest thou the echo of thy voice 
through upper Spheres ? 

One effulgent day my immortal Preacher* read from his 
radiant altar the following notice : " This happy congregation 
is urgently requested to take part in a Utilitarian Convention 
which will commence its sessions in this consecrated Sanctuary 
to-morrow morning." Accordingly, at the appointed hour, 

* See a chapter in the Great Harmonia, second volume, entitled, "My Preacher 
and his Church." 



248 QUESTIONS ON THE EFFECTS OF UTILITARIANISM. 

the fraternal members reverently assembled themselves to- 
gether ; when, unexpectedly to him, my blessed Preacher was 
by acclamation appointed Chairman, and the convention then 
peacefully proceeded to business. Any report, of the questions 
propounded or record of the speeches delivered, is deemed 
wholly unnecessary. But the honored Chairman offered a set 
of fourteen remarkable Resolutions — plenarily inspired with 
the very essence of Utilitarian reform — which I submit as be- 
ing worthy the reader's consideration. 

"What was the first Resolution ? 

First: Resolved, That it is the constitutional prerogative 
of the Human Mind freely and fearlessly and dispassionately 
to examine into and investigate each and everything to be 
formed in the Bible as well as out of it ; that the Old and New 
Testaments are our friends and teachers, but not our guides or 
masters ; that any theory, hypothesis, philosophy, sect, creed, 
or institution, that fears investigation, openly manifests its own 
weakness and implies its own error. 

What was the second Resolution 1 

Second : Resolved, That all true Liberty and Happiness are 
predicated upon the twofold principle of Individual sovereign- 
ty and Collective reciprocity ; therefore, that all religious sys- 
tems and all forms of government, opposed to the practical 
enjoyment of such self sovereignty as the basis, are essentially 
barbarous and vitally antagonistic to the real needs of the man 
and woman of the Nineteenth Century. 

What was the third Resolution ? 

Third : Resolved, That Religion is Justice ; that Heaven is 
Harmony ; that Love is the Life of the Universe ; that Wisdom 
is the Order of the Universe ; that distributive Liberty is the 
natural result of Nature's Laws in exercise. 

What was the fourth Resolution 1 

Fourth : Resolved, That every form of theological sectari- 
anism is anti-progressive, and practically retards the develop- 
ment of brotherly Love among men, and militates not less 
against the expansion of the eternal principle of Distributive 
Justice ; and that, therefore, all sectarian distinctions and 
local attachments to creeds should henceforward be abandoned, 



QUESTIONS ON THE EFFECTS OF UTILITARIANISM. 249 

as worse than useless, by every teacher of individual Develop- 
ment, by every lover of social Harmony, and by every friend 
of political and religious Liberty. , 

What was the fifth Kesolution ? 

Fifth : Resolved, That, whereas in the constitution of our 
government it is an essential or fundamental principle that 

" all men (in the generic sense) are created equal with 

certain inalienable Rights" to secure which " govern- 
ments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers 
from the consent of the governed ;" and whereas our govern- 
ment practically denies not only the right of Liberty to the 
slave, but likewise practically denies the right of Suffrage to 
women ; therefore resolved that our government, though the 
best known on earth, is in effect despotic and opposed to the 
principles of equal Justice and universal Liberty. 

What was the sixth Resolution 1 

Sixth : Resolved, That America is now but the representa- 
tive of Transitional Republicanism and sentimental Liberty ; 
that political antagonism and local monopolizations are natural 
to this form of civilization ; that the Harmonial Philosophy 
points the pathway to organic and constitutional Freedom; 
and, therefore, that every Harmonial Philosopher should use 
his political influence to put in office only such minds as will 
legislate according to Nature and Reason, and work for equal 
Justice and universal Liberty. 

What was the seventh Resolution 1 

Seventh : Resolved, That in accordance with repeated ocu- 
lar demonstrations, and the coincidental attestation of thou- 
sands of worthy and intelligent minds in the United States 
and in Europe, we believe, first, in the sympathetic Nearness 
of the spiritual world (the Second Sphere) to the natural 
world (the First Sphere) ; second, in the possibility of an in- 
tellectual and impressional Intercourse between the dwellers 
of these two worlds ; third, that the varieties and gradations 
of human character extend and continue indefinitely beyond 
the chemical event of physical death ; fourth, and in the spe- 
cial providence, general guardianship, and local ministrations, 
of those who have passed from earth in advance of us ; fifth, 



250 QUESTIONS ON THE EFFECTS OF UTILITARIANISM. 

in accordance with the accumulative evidence, we believe that 
these ascended personages are earnest in their associated and 
combined endeavors to assist mankind toward a practical real- 
ization of the " Kingdom of Heaven on Earth" — in the form 
of a higher social Order wherein each Individual, male and 
female, without complexional distinctions or intellectual or 
moral differences, will enjoy an equal right to Liberty — in- 
ducing all to be good and wise and happy. 

What was the eighth Resolution ? 

Eighth : Resolved, That modern Spiritualism is not antago- 
nistic to, but is essentially in harmony with, the Spiritualism 
of antecedent centuries. 

What was the ninth Resolution 1 

Ninth: Resolved, That the Harmonial Philosophy is the 
best and most rational exposition yet known of the immutable 
Laws of Father-God and Mother-Nature ; a philosophy which 
can rescue modern Spiritualism from eventuating, as almost all 
ancient has done, in superstitious ignorance and localized big- 
otry, in bondage to external authorities, and in sectarian or- 
ganizations detrimental to mankind's advancement. 

What was the tenth Resolution ? 

Tenth : Resolved, That the Mosaic Dispensation (the past) 
was an age of Force, or Compulsion ; that the Christian Dis- 
pensation (the present) is an age of Love, or Impulse ; that 
the Harmonial Dispensation (the future) will be an age of 
Wisdom, or Harmony. Accordant with the intuitional expe- 
rience of all illuminated minds, and with the testimony of na- 
tions as found in their several maxims and sacred scriptures, 
we believe that an exercise of Wisdom (which embraces the 
totality of maris intuitional and intellectual consciousness) is 
necessary in order to harmonize the elements of Force and Love 
— the Lion and the Lamb — and bring these elements of man- 
kind practically to bear upon the physical, political, and spir- 
itual interests of the race — in a word, to harmonize Man with 
Himself, with his Neighbor, with Father-God, and with Mother- 
Nature. 

What was the eleventh Resolution ? 

Eleventh : Resolved, That the human mind, while it is the 



QUESTIONS ON THE EFFECTS OF UTILITARIANISM. 251 

master of one set of circumstances, is no less the subject of 
another set which is positive to it ; that man is not absolutely 
but comparatively " a free agent ;" that man's character is 
formed favorably or unfavorably in exact correspondence with 
the character of the influences which surround and act upon 
him before as well as after birth ; therefore, that individual 
redemption from, or progress out of, social error and relative im- 
perfections is possible only through the instrumentality of a 
higher Societary Construction, which shall, by its concordances 
of interest, destroy all motives for the perpetuation of commer- 
cial antagonisms, destroy all conflict between producer and 
consumer, all incompatibilities between interest and duty, and 
provide with equal justice for the inception, for the gestation, 
for the birth, for the training, for the education, and for the 
spiritual development, of every son and daughter of the Broth- 
erhood of Humanity. , 

What was the twelfth Resolution % 

Twelfth : Eesolved, That " evil," so called, is not a trans- 
gression of any Law, either physical or moral ; but that evil 
(and sin) arise from internal conditions and from external cir- 
cumstances over which individuals have no absolute control ; 
therefore, that the Harmonial Philosophy teaches universal 
Charity toward both the agents and the victims of crime ; and 
points to the progressive improvement and harmonization of 
those conditions and those circumstances which mould and in- 
fluence the human character prior as well as subsequent to the 
event of birth. 

What was the thirteenth Resolution ? 

Thirteenth : Resolved, That the commercial and mercantile 
relations instituted among men, and perpetuated by the present 
social disorder, are those of extreme selfishness, leading di- 
rectly and inevitably to Indigence, Larceny, Oppressive Mo- 
nopolies, "War, Slavery, Disease, Delusive Doctrines, Profes- 
sional Drones, and to the development of diversal Unproduc- 
tive Classes, the effects of which can not be removed and pre- 
vented by any change short of a Harmonial Dispensation — 
overthrowing, by its mighty power, all superstitions, liberating 
equally man's affections and his reason from the slavery of 



252 QUESTIONS ON THE EFFECTS OF UTILITARIANISM. 

error and fear — harmonizing the law of Self-Sovereignty with 
the parallel law of Social Keciprocity — securing to Woman an 
equally free career with Man, and resulting in good, in wise, 
and in happy neighborhoods, which will honor human nature 
by living, as the inhabitants of higher planets do, in strict and 
natural accord with the Divine Laws of Existence — fulfilling 
the spirit of the prayer uttered by our Elder Brother, the gentle 
Nazarene. 

What was the fourteenth Eesolution % 

Fourteenth : Resolved, That we heartily rejoice in the efforts 
which benevolent men in all civilized nations are making to 
ameliorate the condition of their fellows — the poor, the igno- 
rant, the enslaved, and the criminal ; and that, while we en- 
courage Reformers, Teachers, Missionaries, Statesmen, and 
Ministers of every shade and degree, we at the same time very 
fraternally and earnestly and conscientiously urge upon them 
the necessity of a better acquaintance with the Harmonial Phi- 
losophy ; to the end that they may be more correct in their 
estimations of Man, in their reports of Deity, and in their 
contemplations of Nature — rendering them more efficient in 
devising the adaptation of instrumentalities to the development 
of those humane and universal objects which all true reformers 
and benevolent minds design to accomplish by their associated 
efforts. 



QUESTIONS ON THE 

ORIGIN AND PERPETUITY OF CHARACTER. 



A certain band of questions and answers appeared to me 
just now as divine and redemptive in their influence upon hu- 
man character. In presenting them, I am actuated by that 
conviction which the poet thus embodied : — 

" lie that hath a truth and keeps it, 
Keeps what not to him belongs — 
But performs a selfish action, 
And a fellow-mortal wrongs." 

The term " Character" is usually employed to discriminate 
reputation. It is used to signify that for which an individual 
is either popular or unpopular, famous or infamous. When a 
person is understood to be " a wit," a powerful " logician," a 
notorious " gambler," a masterly " actor," or an imaginative 
"writer," this term is commonly made to follow an adjective, 
by which to define his characteristics. Hence it is said that 
certain traits, or peculiarities, or dispositions, go to make up 
character. 

Do you employ this word with the meaning which is usually attached to it ? 

No ; I define character, on the contrary, to be " the medium" 
through which the soul expresses itself openly — the form by 
which the whole mind declareth and maketh its manifestations. 
Most distinctly do I affirm that men do not understand the 
real nature of the soul of a man by his character. 



254 QUESTIONS ON THE ORIGIN 

What do you mean by this language ? 

I mean by this to affirm that " character" adheres to a man 
only ; that it does not mhere, nor form a part of his inmost. 
Character is a mirror, so to speak, by which the soul looks 
at itself ; the lever upon which it acts ; a door through which 
it passes in and out of the temple. Character is the way, the 
fashion, the manner, the expression, the fulcrum, as well as 
the lever, by and through which the soul announceth and de- 
clareth itself to the External World. 

Do you mean by this that character is not the soul's real expression ? 

Yes ; character is not the soul ; neither is it an expression 
of man's inward nature. You are never more mistaken than 
when you believe you know a person's spirit by its charac- 
teristic manifestations. The inward nature is compelled to 
express itself through a " form ;" but that form may be the 
creation of an unfortunate parentage or education. Consider 
well, and you will discover that " character" adheres, but does 
not mhere ; that it pertains to the individual, but does not 
constitute the inmost interior Reality. 

Are human beings essentially the same 1 « 

Yes ; one principle animates all races of men. Mankind 
are essentially the same in Nova Zembla as in Patagonia ; in 
the far-off wilderness as in the city of New York. Two prin- 
ciples only are capable of infinite permutations : they explain 
the infinite varieties of character which swarm the mystic 
realms of Existence. This principle is essentially monotheis- 
tic ; it is all God, and is panoramic in its immutable operations. 
By interior examination I discerned this Principle, and I 
term it The Gee at Hakmonia — a divine principle which ani- 
mates intelligently the boundless system of Nature. When I 
mount from the anterior regions of " Knowledge" into the su- 
perior " Wisdom" faculties, I call this animating principle the 
" Spirit of Father-God." 

Do you mean to teach that God is distinct from Nature ? 

No ; Mother-Nature is not essentially different from Father- 
God. Nature is a negative part of the Positive Principle — 
even as man's body is the negative part of his Mind. There 
is not one thing which is body, and another which is spirit ; 



AND PERPETUITY OF CHARACTER. 255 

neither is there one thing which is Nature, and another which 
is God. No ; there is but One Harmonium, illimitable : in its 
positive aspects, " Father-God" — in its negative departments, 
" Mother-Nature." Between Father-God and Mother-Nature, 
as I have affirmed, mankind come into existence. Hence man 
is legitimately and truly a child of both Nature and God. Na- 
ture is the Wife of the Divine Principle, and the Divine Prin- 
ciple is the Husband of Nature ! 

"Where do you begin to trace the origin of human character 1 

There are three origins and degrees to human character : 
first, that which is inherited from Father-God and Mother- 
Nature ; second, that which we inherit from our immediate' 
father and mother ; third, that which is manipulated upon us by 
our private habits, or by those with whom we are in sympathy 
and social communication. There is, therefore, a foundational 
character, which is innately divine and for ever beautiful. It 
is never tarnished, for it is untarnishable. It is Godlike, be- 
cause it is an individualized detachment of the monotheistic 
Principle. It is pure and immaculate, the same in essence as 
in conformation. 

Do you mean to teach that man's spirit is crowned with three characters ? 

Yes ; there is a primary character, a secondary character, 
and a tertiary character ; and each is built upon and folded over 
the other. The most radical or innermost character — the 
divine, the imperishable — is seldom manifested in this rudi- 
mental life. The second progenitary character — which man 
inherits from man — is almost always visible. A child inherits 
a body, and a head on the top of it ; and the future man must 
live in the thus-bequeathed habitation. He has inherited some- 
what of his father and his mother ; and his " character" will 
be manifested concordantly therewith. The shape and quality 
of his ordinary character will resemble the shape and quality 
of his immediate inheritance. 

Are man's trifold characters equally beyond his control ? 

There are two characters beyond man's absolute control : 
first, that which was inherited from God and from Nature ; 
second, that which was derived from his individualizing pro- 
genitors. Nevertheless, there is a third character which ever 



256 QUESTIONS ON THE ORIGIN 

comes within the circle of individual responsibility. Man's 
body, I affirm, is inherited like a dwelling-house ; and he must 
live in it, whether he likes the shape of it or not. The facul- 
ties are the furniture — also inherited with the habitation. It 
is impossible radically to change a single faculty. In fact, in 
this world it is hard even superficially to make alterations. 
Every chair and every sofa, every item of furniture, bequeathed 
to man by his earthly progenitors, was placed in his rudimental 
house, and he can scarcely move them. He must sit low or 
stand upright, must breathe, and feel, and think, in accordance 
with the structure of his habitation and the arrangement of 
his furniture. He begins the business of life with the top fac- 
ulties : these are his chambers and libraries. Also with the 
lower faculties : these are his drawing-rooms. And with infe- 
rior propensities : these are his kitchen and furniture. With 
the body : this is a cellar for the reception of garden- vegetables 
and various substances. And beneath all are locomotive ap- 
pendages : these are the agents by which he moves over the 
earth's surface. 

Does man get a third character by contact with his fellows ? 

Man's character is evidently threefold ; or, it may be said 
that he has three characters : first, the innermost, which is sel- 
dom manifested ; second, that which he parentally inherits ; 
third, that which is superinduced by the church or state, by 
society, or the family, into which he is born ; or, still more 
externally, by persons with whom he habitually associates. 
'Varieties of disposition and contrarieties of temperament, in 
individuals with whom a man lives in contact, go directly tow- 
ard the formation of a superficial character. And this is the 
" character" which is mainly sustained and manifested by 
mankind. 

"What is the true method by which to control and modify character ? 

Man needs to become acquainted with well-known psycho- 
logical principles of self-development. These will put into his 
possession the greatest amount of power, by which he can con- 
trol and modify, not only his superficial character, but also, to 
a considerable extent, the secondary character derived from 
his individualizing progenitors. When a man knows how he 



AND PERPETUITY OF CHARACTER. 257 

obtained a superficial character, through which his spirit is 
forced to express and misrepresent itself, his knowledge is 
equivalent to a psychological power by which to modify it. It 
is undeniably plain that the more men increase their knowl- 
edge and wisdom, the more do they acquire an ability by which 
to undermine and eradicate the superficial. Grant that the 
spirits of all men are composed of the same essential elements, 
and we have at once established a universal Democracy. Go 
deep into human character, and you will find a diamond inher- 
itance, pure and imperishable. There is no other basis upon 
which to predicate humanitarian Reforms. If you can see, 
deeper into the nature of Man, an essence and a character 
strictly incorruptible, then will you approach him as a being 
whose inmost can disclose the celestial structure. 

Are there not persons who possess double characters ? 

Yes ; you meet persons manifesting, at once or alternately, 
both the acquired and the inherited character. About four 
generations contribute to the formation of every individual. 
Hence, children will resemble their immediate father or 
mother, or else their grandfather or grandmother, or genera- 
tions even more remote, until the fourth generation is repro- 
duced and represented. Children of some families indicate 
neither father nor mother ; but remote ancestors come forth 
in -their leading characteristics. Characteristics continue to 
fold themselves over and over, but seldom reach farther back 
than the fourth generation. Now, all these conditions origi- 
nate and construct individual character ; and the spirit is com- 
pelled to harmonize therewith for a term of rudimental years. 
If it has inherited a large back-brain, or a large front-brain, 
or any other peculiarity, the spiritual manifestation must be 
accordant. Most self-evident is it that a Spirit is constrained 
to manifest itself in accordance with that character which was 
given to it without consultation or consent. The character is 
built up, subsequent to birth, by father and mother. After 
this there cometh the tertiary formation. This is the work of 
the ten thousand social circumstances which, like so many pot- 
ters, have power over the clay to " fashion one vessel to honor 
and another to dishonor." If you had been born in another 

IT 






258 QUESTIONS ON THE ORIGIN 

portion of the globe, what, think you, would have followed ? 
This : the physical, the geographical, the meteorological, the 
political, the ecclesiastical, the social, and all the other yet 
subtler influences pertaining to that latitude, would have, like 
master-masons and constructive carpenters, laid the outer walls 
and put up the timbers in your Character. From such causes 
you might have been a Turk, a Mongolian, a Chinese, or a 
Hindoo : just the same as, by living the life of New York, you 
may obtain a concrete character, and get familiarized more or 
less with a little of all the world. It is to the rectification of 
this external, outside character, to which men should direct 
their immediate attention. If we wish to grow harmonial, let 
us begin by analyzing and removing those causes which retard 
the development of that divine character inherited from Father- 
God and Mother-Nature. 

Would some associative method propitiate the inmost development 1 

Yes ; deeply impressed am I that mankind, as a Brother- 
hood, needs a cosmopolitan or world-wide Association, which 
contemplates modifying the Church, the State, the Family, 
Society, and even other departments of human interest, with 
direct reference to the harmonial formation of this third char- 
acter. Human character is affected so deeply by ecclesiastical 
institutions, that nothing can require of reformers more inves- 
tigation. A religion of forms, of ceremonies, of rituals, is not 
the religion of manhood. Men need a religion which, when 
defined, means Universal Justice. Institutions have a powerful 
effect upon those who keep out of them as well as upon those 
who are absorbed by their mighty magnetism. Impoverished 
citizens of New York, who have never entered a church, who 
live perhaps beneath the walks or in cellars, are affected never- 
theless by the nature of the pervading theologies. The most 
positive type of doctrine acts through all the interstices of con- 
sciousness, until it reaches the remotest soul. We need a Re- 
ligion of Justice, which contemplates the harmonial development 
of character. Popular religious institutions exert a powerful 
influence upon character, more especially upon that portion 
which is called " conscience." How many there are who sin- 
cerely believe it " wrong" to attempt theological progression ! 



AND PERPETUITY OF CHARACTER. 259 

They cherish a conscientious conservatism, and the Church has 
magnetized them into it. The conscience of such persons, I 
would say, is educational — an acquired idea of right and 
wrong. These ideas are susceptible of various modifications. 
Hence persons alter their minds upon all kinds of questions. 
That is right this week ; next week, it is wrong. Alterations 
are perpetually going on in the superficial conscience, and 
progress is the result. 

Is the tertiary character formed unconsciously 1 

Measurably so. Suppose, for example, you attend Church 
next Sunday. By the Monday following you will be more af- 
fected by your memory of the prayer, sermon, and music, than 
by the spirit of the music, the spirit of the sermon, or»the 
spirit of the prayer. It is the form which strikes deepest into 
the soil of the outer character. You remember to have been 
in the Church, but the spirit of the day hath departed. The 
outer form remains in your memory, which influences your 
spirit insensibly to manifest itself in like manner. Should you 
meditate upon God, you will think in your preacher's peculiar 
language. Think of music, and your thought will be in ac- 
cordance with that tune which lingers strongest upon your 
memory. You remember the music's form, and your spirit 
flows insensibly into that. You know how it was with the 
" Marseilles Hymn ;" it was impressed upon all France. Its 
form became a part of the memory. Joyful natures would sing 
and dance it ; to them, there was sublime courage and hope in 
the very form of that hymn. Is it not also true that our own 
memorable " Hail Columbia," and our still more familiar 
" Yankee Doodle," has been sung and drummed and blowed 
and whistled by hundreds of thousands who have simply heard 
the tune and remembered the words ? In order to illustrate 
how insensibly man acquires his tertiary character, I will tell 
you an experiment : One Sabbath I saw a man, the keeper of 
a livery stable, at a revival meeting. The broad-breasted and 
muscular-mouthed minister used his most emphatic language. 
He terrifically described the terrors of the Lord, and the not 
more terrible attributes of the Devil. With all the stirring 
language at his command, he delineated the fate of the impen- 



260 QUESTIONS ON THE OEIGIN 

itent and unredeemed. Well do I remember how he raised 
himself up in the old red-upholstered desk, and said : " God 
will damn to hell every uncon trite heart, every unregenerate 
soul." At length the meeting closed and the proprietor returned 
to his stable. As he entered, he was informed that one of his 
best horses was down and floundering in the stall. Several 
attempts were made to raise the animal, but he would fall back 
almost in the same spot. Presently, the livery-man became 
exceeding wroth ; he strongly resembled the minister ! And 
lo, in a manner quite minister-like, he raised his powerful voice, 
and — "damned the horse to hell." You perceive that the 
proprietor's spirit rushed through the very words which the 
clergyman had stamped upon his brain. 

Would you attempt to trace all profanity to the pulpit ? 

No ; and yet I do affirm that the pulpit has done much tow- 
ard giving a morose tertiary character to many, even to pro- 
fanely-inclined persons who have never been inside the Church. 
From the Church they learn, first, a provoking idea of " G-od" 
— second, "will" — third, " damn"— fourth, "your"— fifth, 
"soul" — sixth, " to hell ;" and, in a retentive and intentive 
memory, it is a very easy matter to ring the changes on these 
profane and suggestive words. Let a person with an irascible 
temperament, who has never been within an orthodox Church, 
hear for the first time such atrocious expressions ; and quite 
sure am I that he will transmit them to a whole crowd of ex- 
citable minds before twelve o'clock the next day ! Then each 
individual of this crowd transmits " God will damn your soul" 
to another individual : and so the innoculation goes forward ; 
and in ten days, from the date of the sermon, they become ab- 
breviated and changed and stereotyped expressions through 
that village or part of the country. Now, who will say that 
the popular pulpit is not responsible for much profanity ? A 
universal religion of Justice, on the contrary, would contem- 
plate the Harmony of every individual. It can not be dis- 
guised that every individual, whether a member or not, is af- 
fected and characterized by those institutions of his country 
which are called " ecclesiastical." 



AND PERPETUITY OF CHARACTER. 261 

Is character also influenced by the existing political institutions ? 

Yes ; it would be interesting to detail what has been done 
in different countries — in all Europe and in America — to 
stamp new political ideas, through certain legal enactments, 
whereby hundreds of thousands have received tertiary charac- 
ters. You remember a certain powerful magician of our coun- 
try ! He once stood up before all the crowned heads in his 
nation's capitol, with a deal of learning, and with a mystic 
rod in his hand, called up from shadow-land a " Fugitive Slave 
Law." He threw it to the earth, frightened at his own skill, 
and lo, it became a Serpent ! How many lesser magicians 
have labored to imitate him ! Sometimes these political imi- 
tators achieve temporary triumphs, but their several " com- 
promises," on being thrown down to the earth, have each be- 
come a serpent ; but the Fugitive Slave Law, being a Mosaic 
invention and greater than the others, has swallowed them all ! 
You see how this political contrivance operates in America: 
do you not ? The Fugitive Slave Law will continue for a 
quarter of a century, after its repeal, to affect the tertiary 
character of the American people. Repeal it in the next 
twenty-four hours, and the effect of that Law will remain en- 
stamped upon the American spirit. That is to say, the people 
will continue to put confidence in compromises and expedients. 
Yes ; the influence of a political institution is stamped upon 
the tertiary character ; and the nation, as well as the individu- 
al, is compelled in some insensible way to wade through every 
inch of the popular channel. 

But is it not true that every disease brings its own remedy ? 

We shall see : it is true that social confusion develops social 
architects ; and that each presents different schemes, or remedies, 
by which to escape from or cure the injustice and inequalities 
of present disorders. Of course, the world has never been with- 
out these Social Architects. We have had the generalizing 
scientific Fourier, and the humanitarian Owen. Different in- 
dustrial combinations have come forth, and societary communi- 
ties have essayed to work out the gigantic problem, to abolish 
inequalities and overcome injustices. But the inmost character 
alone can apprehend and appreciate the better and the best. 



262 QUESTIONS ON THE ORIGIN 

Society, like a piece of utilitarian machinery, is full of wheels, 
of bands, of pulleys ; and we pray for a John Fitch, or a Fulton, 
for some person, skilled in moulding the tertiary character. 
Shafts and wheels now wabbling, in the social structure, could 
be brought into harmonious movement. Men should unite 
those influences which go toward the creation of social simpli- 
fication ; the simplification of commerce and merchandise, of 
farming and manufacturing. Truth is always simple. This is 
that for which the inner character constantly yearns. There 
are persons who, getting fatigued with religious corruptions 
and the wabblings of the wheels of the social machinery, go 
away into side conditions. They take some established central 
principle as the divine animus of their movement, and organ- 
ize themselves around that. If they fail to harmonize all human 
relations, then decomposition is certain to steal into their or- 
ganization, and a decay of effort is inevitable. But, feeling at 
times a deeper character and a radical attraction toward better 
states, these Social Physicians do not despair one day of ad- 
ministering the perfect Remedy. 

Do you contemplate the application of Justice to every human relation ? 

Yes ; there is a religion of Justice which may be applied 
first and foremost to the Family relations. That is to say : to 
the relation of man to woman, to the relation of lover and be- 
loved, to the relation of husband and wife, to the relation of 
parent and child, to the relation of friend and enemy, and to 
the stranger which is without thy gate. Man's tertiary char- 
acter should be formed by a religion which contemplates Uni- 
versal Justice. Character is formed for the individual ; in ac- 
cordance with the family and country and religion into which 
he is born. It depends upon the influences which the human 
soul encounters before as well as after its emergement into this 
world, as to whether it will be discordant or harmonious, or, 
take the middle track, and exhibit somewhat of both the sec- 
ondary and tertiary. 

Can this Justice be applied by the individual to himself ? 

Yes ; to a certain extent. As nearly as possible, each man 
should be a practical exemplification of his Harmonial Philos- 
ophy. Aim at a proportionate development of character — at 



AND PERPETUITY OF CHARACTER. 263 

the exhumation of the Inmost — to get the fullest and best ex- 
pression. This can be done, not by individual effort alone, but 
by combination ; through association with those who have the 
same object in view, and the same plan of accomplishment. 

How can this association be arranged 1 

It would not be difficult for a limited number of persons — 
say six or twelve — to meet together once each week ; to come 
together, from different parts of the town or country, for the 
purpose of a normal development. Let them continue to meet 
and get into sympathy — feeling each other's affections and in- 
tellects — and so harmonize each with the other's mind. Such 
a harmonial association would invite higher and diviner influ- 
ences — would receive showers and benedictions from unseen 
sources — until the whole circle would be of one accord, and 
each individual member would become a positive power unto 
Salvation. This is the way to commence a system of harmo- 
nial reform — in spite of all adverse social influences — where- 
by you may modify and improve the characters which you have 
inherited and acquired. Suppose, for illustration, you have 
acquired a habit of drinking, of smoking, of swearing, of 
loose thinking, or of indulging passional excesses — and sup- 
pose you join the circle with the understanding and intention 
of emancipating your soul from these defective characteristics — 
in such case, the effect of the association would be manifested 
in an insensible diversion of your thoughts into higher channels, 
and, subsequently, a new tertiary character would be formed 
for a better expression of your true spirit. There is no 
church, no sanctuary, so desirable as a well-balanced body 
and soul ; but it can not be erected, nor consecrated, without 
fraternal assistance ; there must be a continual contribution 
of sympathy, from those who have the same glorious blessing 
in prayer. Remember, such circles should be formed not to 
invite outward phenomena — calculated to impress the mind 
with awe and astonishment — but for the interblending, ener- 
gization, and harmony of those faculties, or characters, through 
which the soul must express itself. The primal end to be at- 
tained is, the development of individual mind in strict obedi- 
ence to its own most internal character and proclivities. Mind 



264 QUESTIONS ON THE ORIGIN 

must be rounded out in accordance with its own most interior 
tendencies. The ideal character must be your own ideal : of 
what you would be ! Such should be your aspiration, your god, 
your guardian angel. Around this ideal character, your in- 
most, will cluster a thousand energizing and friendly forces ; 
and you will surely obtain rest and satisfaction. 

What do you say concerning the perpetuity of character ? 

I affirm that the primary character, derived from Father- 
God and Mother-Nature, is permanent and immortal. The 
secondary character, imparted by mundane progenitors, is built 
over the deepest and inmost. This hereditary possession con- 
tinues through this world, and may continue for centuries in 
the next ; but it is capable, under self-control, of wholesome 
harmonial modification. The tertiary character, formed and 
fixed by habits, has a duration which is determined — first, by the 
strength of your aspiration to outgrow it — second, by the as- 
sociations which aspiration attracts about you. You should 
associate with those who are sure and steadfast in their efforts 
to obtain righteousness. The perpetuity of the tertiary or 
superficial character is a question of time. Its perpetuation 
is not a question for eternity. You may strive to overcome, and 
may experience defeat ; but each defeat is but Nature's affirma- 
tion, that nothing absolute can be done without co-operation. 
It is necessary not only to have the assistance of friends in 
this world, but we need also to receive the spiritualizing aid 
of our neighbors in the Spirit Land. On one occasion I met 
a fine looking literary man, with a bad tertiary character, who 
was quite satirical and severe upon mankind. I recollect his 
quoting a passage from Byron, which suited his inverted char- 
acteristics : — 

" The time hath been when no harsh sound would fall 
From lips that now would seem imbued with gall, 
Nor fools nor follies tempt me to despise 
The meanest thing that crawled beneath mine eyes. 
But now, so callous grown — so changed since youth, 
I've learned to think and sternly speak the truth — 
Learned to dei-ide the critic's starch decree 
And break him on the wheel he meant for me — 
To spum the rod a scribbler bids me kiss, 
Nor care if courts or crowds applaud or hiss." 



AND PERPETUITY OP CHARACTER. 265 

He said that this was the most agreeable passage he ever found 
in Byron ! His filial and universal loves were inverted. By 
reference to the fourth volume of the Great Harmonia you can 
see the difference between a harmonious character, and one 
which is oppressed with tertiary deformities or . secondary ten- 
dencies derived from mismated progenitors. It is a great 
consolation to know, that all this which we condemn in human 
nature — this evil and sin — adheres only to those strata of 
character which are of temporal duration. The human spirit 
must express itself through forms ; hence we get bad repre- 
sentations of the inward nature which is essentially pure. 
Theologians have endeavored to trouble humanitarians with 
this question : 

How can man be outwardly so evil and sinful, and inwardly so pure and 
divine ? 

To which I reply, that " character" is the form through 
which the soul expresses itself. The expression and the form 
will correspond. If a man should impress bad words upon 
your mind, your character will flow out through them. If the 
windows of your house were of blue glass, you would see every- 
thing beyond or outside of them as tinged or draped in a color 
corresponding. If there were interposed between your eye 
and the pure, white, shining light of the sun, a red, saffron, or 
green, its light would appear to your mind to be colored ac- 
cordingly. So the character which is interposed between the 
world and your spirit. That which is within, like the sun's 
pure light, is divine and untarnishable. The spirit is not 
marred or injured in its inner essence by contact with the body 
or the world, although its manifestations may be crude and 
painfully discordant. Spirit is unparticled and unchangeable ; 
but character changes perpetually. Hence a man may acquire 
and represent a multitude of characteristics, while his spirit 
remaineth essentially unchanged. Yes, it is a vast pleasure 
to know that " character" is not the exponent of man's spirit. 
It is but the habitation in which he is compelled by circum- 
stance temporarily to live. Therefore, men must commence 
with the improvement of those social conditions out of which 
arise human character. 



266 QUESTIONS ON THE ORIGIN 

Do you mean to teach that man's spirit is not to be judged by the appearance 
of his character? 

Yes ; character, I reaffirm, is not the man or the woman, 
but is merely the soul's fragmentary declarations. It is not 
the soul, but its compelled expression. It is interposed be- 
tween the innermost and the outermost. It is the framework 
of the spirit — the setting of the gem of immortal life. If the 
frame is beautiful, it reflects beauty upon the picture ; but if 
the framing be disproportionate and unbeautiful, who will say 
that the work of the Divine Artist is therefore imperfect ? The 
first character is natural, the second is superficial, and the 
third is artificial. The first is a sub or under-structure ; the 
second is an inter or mediatorial structure ; the third is a super 
or temporary structure, built over and outside of its predeces- 
sors. To the spiritual perceptions of the clairvoyant, or to a 
person with the clairvoyance of a clear intellect, it is undenia- 
bly plain that one character is built over another, until the 
spirit-essence is well-nigh disguised, incognito. The first char- 
acter, the substructure, is inherited. Its parents, as before 
said, are Father-God and Mother-Nature. The second charac- 
ter is inherited from our immediate parents, in whom exist the 
contributions of three or four previous generations. This pro- 
genitary character is the inter structure, through which the 
spirit of man is obliged to express itself. He must follow out 
the positive proclivities of his immediate parents. External 
character is acquired by habits, and, to a great extent, from 
influential surroundings. 

Can you illustrate how the secondary and tertiary characters are formed ? 

Yes ; here, for illustration, is an architect. He designs a 
public edifice. He calls together carpenters and masons, and 
furnishes them with tools and appropriate materials. In due 
course of time, the structure is reared. But did you ever 
know a progressive architect who was satisfied with his elabo- 
ration ? The archetypal ideas of the architect were the first 
parents of that building ; and the workmen were the immediate 
parents, by whom come several interpolations. The original plan 
did not contemplate a window there, nor a door or closet yonder. 
These new suggestions are introduced. A hall is opened in 



AND PERPETUITY OF CHARACTER. 267 

one place, and a flight of stairs is erected in another. These, 
I say, are interpolations or interstructures. But now come 
the superficial workers — that is to say, men with brushes and 
pots of paint — who add ornaments and external embellish- 
ment. This is the acquired character. But the seasons come 
and go, and the paint, and embellishments, and ornaments, all 
slowly disappear — all which the carpenters, and masons, and 
painters, had brought into expression. The edifice itself real- 
izes innovation, which runs parallel with renovation. Finally, 
the whole is reduced : the character which the masons and car- 
penters imparted disappears : and the idea of the original ar- 
chitect remains unexpressed. But, on the very foundation on 
which that building was erected, a class of men bring out his 
idea in all its proportions. Thus : Father-God and Mother- 
Nature conceive the idea of a man. They summon together 
all the carpenters and masons ; and their names are Legion. 
There are nine hundred millions of vegetables, and one hundred 
and fifty millions of animals — fish, birds, reptiles, marsupials, 
mammalials, and quadrumanals — engaged, as carpenters and 
masons, to express the archetypal idea by the production of a 
Man. It is Nature's idea. Nature works through all these 
materials and spiritual forces in order to bring out what is rep- 
resented by you and I. Last of all, instrumental intermediates 
engaged in the production of a human being, are our father 
and mother. They impart to the children individualized ex- 
istence. Then come the painters and ornamental workmen, 
who have much of stucco-work to do ; that is, the embellish- 
ments, and ornaments, and accomplishments, and influences, 
impressed by society. 

What do you mean by this language 1 

I mean that a man may take himself apart, and understand 
the machinery of a human being ; and thus acquire a power of 
self-rectification — and, without any unnecessary procrastination, 
polish away and remove all acquired peculiarities which mili- 
tate against the ample expression of his innermost characteris- 
tics, inherited from Father-God and Mother-Nature. The ar- 
chitect's divine Idea is alone immortal ; not the house which 
he builds, nor the paint with which artisans embellish it. Even 



268 QUESTIONS ON THE ORIGIN 

so, are the imperfections of your acquired character, and of the 
character which you parentally inherited, ultimately to pass 
away. Whether your parentage be Caucasian or African, 
Mongolian or Indian, Celtic or Teutonic, it is all the same. 
Nature will do her work, and you will experience at last a 
complete realization of her original Idea. 

Do you mean that Nature's idea of a man may be realized in this life ? 

Yes ; nevertheless, your inherited and acquired characters, 
unless they be duly overcome and cleansed away, will sur- 
vive the desperate energy of death, and accompany you when 
you enter the drawing-rooms and supernal chambers of the 
Eternal Mansion. And there you will not lose your individu- 
ality : you will be known as you were known by your father 
and mother ; you will be recognised by the principle of Univer- 
sal Sympathy. Neither death, with all its mysterious chemical 
energies combined, nor the grave, though it weeps on all sides 
for months and years together, can cleanse the spirit of certain 
characteristics which adhere to it, as a consequence of its ru- 
dimental existence and organal development. 

Does the mind see the world only through its own characteristics % 

Yes ; man sees everything according to his mental state. 
|?or example : a master-mind goes into the world, and begins 
an examination of what he calls the Word of God. We will 
suppose that this mind is Martin Luther. He therefore looks 
through his own mental characteristics, sees the Word of God, 
and Lutherizes it from the beginning to the concluding sen- 
tence. Again : take the man called John Calvin. He owns 
an imperious, positive, hereditary character. Taking that, 
with his acquired abilities, he sets his mind conscientiously to 
a religious work. His twofold character, interposed between 
his most interior spirit and the letter of the Bible, compels him 
to see and render new translations to every chapter, verse, and 
word. In short, the book is logically Calvinized from begin- 
ning to end ; and it depends upon your inherited and acquired 
characters whether you become a Lutheran or a Calvinist. 
After a time, we hear of another man — perhaps John Wesley. 
You all know how well he Wesleyized the whole Book ! He 
was compelled to look through his character : he saw a new 



AND PEEPETUITY OF CHARACTER. 269 

God, and read a new revelation. He saw, as lie supposed, 
that Luther and Calvin were much mistaken. He was aston- 
ished that intelligent minds could see anything but Methodism 
in the Bible. Having inherited an imperious and positive na- 
ture, his thoughts could not be controlled by surrounding minds. 
Again, who has not heard of Emanuel Swedenborg? Who 
would not like to be in his place for twenty-four hours ? Ex- 
amine the Word from hisetand-point, and you will be surprised 
that any mind could be content with Calvin or Luther. You 
would perceive a natural, a spiritual, and a celestial sense — would 
see a new scheme, a new Providence, a new Church, and a new 
law establishing the cohesion of ideas — spreading far and wide 
through the heavens like an Aurora Borealis ! You are let 
into the language of correspondences ; and you come out corre- 
spondentialized from head to foot, just as the Bible is Sweden- 
borgianized from Genesis to Revelation. If the structure of 
your acquired character comes within that of Calvin, you will 
be Calvinized ; if within that of Luther, you will be Luther- 
ized ; if it comes within the generalizations and minutiae of 
Swedenborg, you will be Swedenborgianized. Thus, like the 
edifice of the architect, you would be painted, embellished, or- 
namented, and artificialized, in your exterior character. Again : 
here is John Murray. Now, every receiver of his gospel is as- 
tonished, when once thoroughly Murrayized, that intelligent 
minds can see anything in the Bible against the doctrine of 
universal restoration. This principle of explaining character 
will impart to your mind an interpreting, a generalizing, and 
a fraternizing spirit toward religious sects — to all of which 
you will have the advantage of being positive. What a grand 
joy it is to stand upon a mountain, and see all the meeting- 
houses and sectarian hamlets in the valley far below ; to feel 
that, spiritually, you are monarch of all you survey ! Every 
one, at some period of life, goes upon the mountain of Contem- 
plation : and when the mind comes down out of that mountain, 
what would it not give to remember all it had seen and ac- 
quired during those moments of comprehension ! 

What would you do to bring out the innate or divine character ? 

■f This question will be more fully answered hereafter. I 



270 QUESTIONS ON THE OEIGIN 

would simply elicit that which I know to be integral — the 
natural image or harmonial character — which is beneath all 
which you may have inherited or acquired. Bring that posi- 
tively out, and you are saved, not only from influences which 
flow from your immediate surroundings, but you are rescued 
not less from ecclesiastical and political organizations. We 
always get what we give. If man runs up an account with 
himself, he is sure to be called one day to settle every farthing 
of it. If a man be a Christian of the Lutheran stamp, or of 
the Calvinistic sort, a Wesleyan, a follower of Murray, of 
Swedenborg, or of any other leader, and if so be that he passes 
to the Spirit-Home in such faith, then he has not only the char- 
acter inherited from his father and mother to overcome, but he 
has to remove an acquired character also, which was superin- 
duced upon his mind by the painters, the artists, the embellish- 
ers, and ornamenters, of the religious organization. 

Will this explain why different religious sect's, during revivals, suppose the 
Lord cometh to their aid ? 

Yes ; I have witnessed those phenomena called " revival- 
meetings." There are no manifestations better calculated to 
illustrate this doctrine — that a man's outward characteristics 
follow him to the Spirit-Land. Go into a Methodist camp- 
meeting, for example, and proceed to analyze a certain myste- 
rious, pervading excitement. There is, first, an artificial ex- 
citement, arising from the energetic, psychological minister. 
Then the people, by virtue of combination and oneness of pur- 
pose, effect another, which is the second phase of psychology. 
The third psychological excitement is based upon the passions ; 
that is, the nervous susceptibilities are prayed for and ad- 
dressed by exhortation. Perhaps, you never witnessed a Meth- 
odist minister indulging a philosophical reflection. The con- 
sequence is, the people begin to feel, not to think. They are 
drawn into the region where love is in the ascendant. They 
inspire a love of spiritual excitement : mingled, perhaps, with a 
love for the Supreme. Now, the religious sensibilities begin to 
be uncontrollably excited. They are venerable, then prayer- 
ful, then convicted of sin : of a thousand things they feel guilty, 
for which they never imagined themselves to be guilty before ! 



AND PERPETUITY OF CHARACTER. 271 

Then they are psychologically excited to a yet higher degree. 
Plenty there are who have had this "religious" experience. 
These can remember how they prayed in the tents, over in the 
enchanting woods — the many lamps at night lighting up the 
trees — and the most nervo-excitable persons in the anxious- 
seats receiving a mysterious afflatus ! At this crisis, with still 
greater tribulation, there cometh a newer experience. They 
behold startling visions ! They gaze upon a Methodistic hell, 
and into a Methodistic heaven. They affirm the Bible to be 
the Word of God ; and that the doctrine of the forgiveness of 
sins is also true. Of all which my explanation is brief: that a 
certain small per-centage of a camp-meeting excitement is spir- 
itually derived. The acquired Methodistic character is per- 
petuated into the Spirit-Home, and reacts upon sympathizing 
minds. Methodistic spirits come back to earth at times, and 
so are kept up religious excitements which are supposed to be 
right in the sight of God. 

Will your explanations extend over the revivals of other sects 1 

Yes ; the unity of truth fixes the unity of causes. See ! 
there is another strange phenomenon. It is a Presbyterian 
excitement. This is far more thoughtful ; the opposite of Meth- 
odism. A Presbyterian must be somewhat logical. You are 
obliged to take the " premises" upon authority ; the rest is com- 
pletely logical and legitimate. History does not know a lawyer 
from the time of Luther with a power of intellectual skill bet- 
ter than that possessed by Calvin. John Calvin was thought- 
ful and logical ; hence, Presbyterians are logical and thought- 
ful. Methodists are, therefore, characteristically different from 
Presbyterians. And, according to my observations, the Pres- 
byterian's acquired character, unless modified by new truth, is 
also carried into the Spirit-Home. And when there exists a 
revival in a Presbyterian church, there is a certain small per- 
centage of spiritual influx manifested. This inspires the mem- 
bers with a conviction of at least doctrinal righteousness ; that 
truth is written through the works of Calvin ; and that the 
Bible is the plenum of Divine Revelation. I have heard the 
logical minister inform the audience that they were all sinners, 
which I presume no one doubted ; and that the deacons espe- 



272 QUESTIONS ON THE ORIGIN 

cially were guilty of lukewarinness, and of still more heinous 
sins : and I found that I entertained the same opinion. A 
revival-meeting is a spiritual phenomenon. Such meetings are 
measurably inspired, and stimulated, and perpetuated, by the 
return-wave of minds beyond the grave, who have not pro- 
gressed sufficiently to disgorge their sectarian characteristics. 

Is the post-mundane perpetuity of acquired characteristics demonstrated in 
armies ? 

Yes ; it was interesting to witness, by aid of clairvoyance, 
how the allied forces were stimulated by certain liberty-loving 
Russians who had been shot into the Spirit Home. They 
obeyed their rulers and generals while in the army, because 
circumstances compelled obedience. But those same brave- 
hearted warriors, after existing in the Spirit Home, certainly 
not more than forty or fifty days, returned to inspire and en- 
courage the men who would break down the spirit of Despot- 
ism. It was blessed to behold the visitations to those field- 
camps wherein reposed the soldiers of freedom. But the 
Leaders entertained no such belief. Thus, certain soldiers 
were aided by those who came from the Spirit Home. They 
brought to the warriors an energy, and a wild enthusiasm ; 
which caused them to pant for an opportunity to cut down 
whole battalions of opponents ! Once I heard the following 
words, pronounced by a spirit who had been a Russian sol- 
dier, who — by being shot (not down, but) up into the Spirit 
Hoine — felt the language wherewith to express his innate love 
of Liberty : " We listen, Russia ! for one note of harmony 
from thy places, but we hear the loud roaring of the practising 
warrior. Thy soldiers will fail thee in battle ; their hearts* 
shall beat for the down-trodden. Thy officers shall fall in 
death before thine eyes ; and thy cunning shall depart. Rus- 
sians ! noblemen of the north ! spurn thy glittering swords, 
and commence the education of thy youth. Ignorance lowers 
heavily o'er thy habitations. Crime hath sealed thy despotisms ; 
hath consigned them to decay." (See the exordia in the 
" Present Age and Inner Life.") 

Have you any different case whereby to illustrate the continuation of char- 
acter 1 

Yes ; while residing in the city of Hartford, I was visited 



AND PERPETUITY OP CHARACTER. 273 

by a gentleman who came to inquire concerning spiritual mani- 
festations. He asserted that he had not conversed with any 
one on the subject ; that he had heard and read but little con- 
cerning it ; but that, recently, he had certain very startling 
experiences which troubled him exceedingly. About four 
weeks ago, after retiring for the night, when he knew that no 
mortal but himself and wife was in the room, the door seemed 
to open, and a self-possessed stranger entered. He could not 
discern the features or the garments of his visiter ; but, before 
he had time to spring from his bed, he heard his name pro- 
nounced in a calm yet penetrative voice, and, immediately, 
the following words were spoken : " Provide for thy slaves 
homes on thy plantations, give them opportunities to read and 
write, and you shall be happy." On hearing these words he 
sprang upon the floor, lighted a lamp, but no visiter could be 

found. The door had been unlocked Next night, just 

as he was between sleeping and waking — in the dreamy twi- 
light of slumber — the door again opened, and in walked the 
same personage. The same words were spoken, and the same 
disappearance was accomplished. After searching the cham- 
ber and finding no one, the gentleman concluded that some 
abolition trick was being played upon him ; he therefore re- 
solved to have a lighted candle, and to remain awake in the 
capacity of private watchman. He mused a long time, when 
the candle had burned down to the socket, and he forgot himself 
in sleep. The door again opened, the same imperturbable per- 
sonage entered, and the same ominous words were slowly but 
distinctly reiterated. The gentleman acknowledged that he 
owned about two hundred and thirty-five slaves ; that his pos- 
sessions embraced two large plantations ; that he was about to 
inherit more slaves and fields ; and that his father and grand- 
father had been extensive slaveholders. Said he: " I don't 
understand it ; but, as I was coming North, I concluded to 
visit Hartford and obtain your opinion." I had some candid 
conversation with him ; but the sequel I can not now disclose. 
Now, let the reader remember, that this visitation occurred just 
three months to a day after " Isaac T. Hopper" had entered 
the Spirit Home ! 

18 



274 QUESTIONS ON THE ORIGIN 

If character is continued into the Spirit Land, what shall we conclude in the 
case of Daniel Webster ? 

My answer is, that man's intermediate and superinduced 
characters are perpetuated, or not, in accordance with the 
progress he has made toward their rectification or removal. 
Daniel Webster's last earthly deed was the cause of a rapid 
alteration in the superficial stratum of his character. The 
Fugitive Slave Law rose up, and became a serpent of fire to 
the people of the North. Webster's acquired character went 
with him into the Spirit Home, but his inmost inheritance soon 
gained the ascendency. Hence, in a speech delivered for the 
friends of the slave, he gave the following exordium : " We 
speak, ye suffering sons of Africa, from the clear sky ; and 
our voices shall be heard. Mammon was the god who first led 
thee to bondage ; so shall it be the god of thy deliverance. 
We will open the catalogue of national crimes to the world. 
The nation that perpetuates slavery shall become a by-word ; 
and its people be counted odious as Appius Claudius, the tyrant 
of ancient Rome, who condemned Virginia as a slave ! The 
people who enslave thee shall prove thy eternal benefactors. 
There is a Law of Justice which evermore overcomes evil with 
good. We will inspire thy masters to worship at the shrine 
of Justice. This is the Great God before whom Mammon 
shall bow in eternal subserviency ! The honest man shall rise 
in overawing majesty before the doer of wrong deeds. The 
soil now tilled by enslaved hands, the plants now moistened by 
the tears of suffering exiles, shall yet be thine, sons of Af- 
rica, to work in the sunshine of gladness, to barter with con- 
sumers as thine own. Thou shalt become an independent na- 
tion ! [No amalgamation you perceive, and no immediate 
emancipation, but that money is finally to settle the whole ques- 
tion.] This shall come [that is the formation of an indepen- 
dent nationality] of thy free-will and choice ! We will bring 
an overpowering light to all oppressors : and the everywhere 
Oppressed shall go free." 

As you are now on the question of slavery, and as William Lloyd Garrison is 
a prominent leader in the cause of freedom, will you delineate his character- 
istics ? 

Yes ; he is a fine example : the most extraordinary political 



AND PERPETUITY OP CHARACTER. 275 

phenomenon. William Lloyd Garrison, is the only individual 
who is thoroughly Garrisonized in the United States. Let 
him to-morrow reject the outward body, and let all which 
characterizes and distinguishes the man, both inherited and the 
acquired, go on with him into the Spirit Home. Now, for 
the sake of illustration, let us be blasphemous enough to im- 
agine — what the whole orthodox world accepts as solemn truth 
— a literal hell and a literal heaven! Picture an orthodox 
elysium on one side, and an orthodox pandemonium on the 
other. Day after to-morrow, fancy that this imperturbed Gar- 
rison makes an application at the gate of Paradise. (I am il- 
lustrating on the supposition, that this man has not thrown off 
either his intermediate or superinduced characteristics.) Ac- 
cordingly he knocks at the gate, and the gate is opened. The 
gatekeeper asks : " What faith ?" The prompt Garrison re- 
plies : u I believe in absolute human freedom; no fellowship 
with slaveholders" "What religion? — what Church?" in- 
quires the gatekeeper — " there are Catholics, Lutherans, Cal- 
vinists, Methodists, Unitarians, Universalists, in yonder am- 
phitheatre : to which of these parties do you belong ?" 
" Don't belong to any," returns the applicant. — " Uncondition- 
al emancipation is my doctrine ; no union with slaveholders." 
The astonished Peter bows respectfully, and replies : " Walk 
in, sir — help yourself to a seat." 

Now William Lloyd Garrison, as I before remarked, is a 
political phenomenon.* He walks cheerfully through the 
courts of the orthodox Elysium. Seeing different sects so com- 
fortably seated, amid a plenitude of splendors, he feels very 
much interested. Although not particularly pleased with the 
several heavenly divisions, yet he says nothing — seeing a kind 
of conceded difference among them without misunderstandings 
or dispute. He spends many pleasant hours in a promenade of 
observation ; for he has the liberty of the domain. Presently, 
he approaches one of the mountainous walls — lined with that 
metal which is so congenial to utilitarians, and perceives a 
mass of fleecy, interlined, and interfused clouds : something 

* A psychometric reading of his innate and inherited character may be seen in 
the last pages of this volume. 



276 QUESTIONS ON THE ORIGIN 

dark, smoky, curling up, and sulphurous ! It seems to have 
" torment" in it ; it don't smell like the fragrance of Freedom. 
These repulsive nebula seem to emanate from an empire of im- 
mense depth and magnitude. The penetrative Garrison draws 
closer, and, scorning to notice that the wall is of solid gold, he 
climbs independently up, looks over, and beholds an orthodox hell 
thickly-populated ! One such vision is enough. He turns back 
to look upon the thinly-populated orthodox heaven. What are 
the sects all about ? 0, they are all looking at the orthodox 
god ; the lower part of whose face is bathed with eternal sun- 
shine, while the brow seems circled with frowns and with 
condemnatory thoughts in number beyond computation. The 
fearless Garrison readily apprehends the ecclesiastical con- 
ditions. He turns firmly and respectfully toward the or- 
thodox god, and inquires — first, whether the platform is free 
to all? — second, whether a speech from him would be con- 
sidered out of order ? After considerable consultation among 
the chief rulers, he is informed that, hy standing on one of the 
steps leading to the Throne, and preserving himself free from 
any personalities, he might address the religious audience ! . . 
. . . Just picture to your minds this man, Garrison — with his 
positive hereditary character, united to his acquired political 
and anti-slavery characteristics — standing up, alone and un- 
aided, to address such a peculiar aristocratic congregation ! 
No, I will not attempt to imagine a word he might utter. But 
I venture to assert that he would kindle a red-hot fire of purely 
moral adjectives, which would burn and blister the lukewarm 
devotees, until each would feel as if the kingdom of heaven 
was on the very point of political disunion and ecclesiastical de- 
composition ! Calmly, he rebukes them for their indolence, and 
deplores their unacquaintance with the urgent demands of Hu- 
manity. Most earnestly he points to the neighboring land of 
blackness, in which unutterable suffering and slavery abounds, 
and fearlessly tells them that they are unpardonably recreant 
to every obvious principle of human happiness. Sitting there 
day after day, cherishing selfish sympathies for each other, ap- 
parently unmindful of the fact that millions are suffering every 
instant of time ! 



AND PERPETUITY OF CHARACTER. 277 

Well : the speech is delivered, and the speaker is unable to 
perceive the first appearance of sympathy. Observing which 
he proceeds to the gatekeeper, and says : " Let me out into 
freedom ; I find no sympathy here." 

But where, think you, would duty lead this man ? 

I will tell you : With his characteristics, duty would direct 
him to go on a mission of mercy to the population of the or- 
thodox pandemonium. There, doubtless, he would find a free 
platform ! Seconded by minds whom he had somewhat Gar- 
risonized, he would, in three days, institute an Anti-Hell-fire 
Society ! Yes, this candid man is so full of organic liberty 
and of " no union with slaveholders," that he would fix 
minute-men all along the track ; and, methinks, I do not exag- 
gerate when I say that, in three days from the time of his first 
speech in Pandemonium, there would be a fine-working under- 
ground railroad all the way up to the Kingdom of Heaven ! 

In all the foregoing you have employed an unallowable supposition : will you 
not describe his characteristics through a natural hypothesis ? 

Without indulging any unnatural hypothesis, then, I can assure 
you that, should Mr. G-arrison go to the Spirit Home, he would 
be interested in the scheme of universal anti-slavery ; and cer- 
tain individuals at the South, although without interest in 
Spiritualism, would surely receive many troublesome dreams 
and waking forebodings. 

"Would the New-England Yankee's character be perpetuated ? 

Nothing can be more certain. It hath been said that, if 
the real genuine Yankee was cast away on a desert Island, 
he would, on the next morning, amuse himself by selling maps 
to the inhabitants ! Suppose a utilitarian man should enter 
the Spirit Home, do you imagine that he would be long in ac- 
quiring the art of moving a chair or the whole baggage-train 
of spiritual manifestations ? 

Are natural characteristics perpetuated into the Spirit Home ? 

Yes ; for example, the true native Irishman does not loose, 
in this life, any of his national or individual peculiarities. 
The Irish race is continued into the Spirit World. So with 
the Germanic, and the French, and the different races ; they 
preserve a momentum ; and, for many periods, continue to 



278 QUESTIONS ON THE ORIGIN 

run the race of a national progression. Ultimately, however, by 
a closer approximation of tendencies and interchange of sym- 
pathies, all overarched and beautified by system, the divergent 
races begin to converge and assimilate, whereupon the ac- 
quired characteristics are dropped, then the parental charac- 
teristics are dropped ; and, lastly, there alone shines forth the 
innate and beautiful, the divine and celestial, character which 
was derived from Father-God and Mother-Nature. But I 
heard of the case of an Irishman who had carried into the 
Spirit Home both his acquired and his constitutional wit. At 
a circle he was very civilly asked respecting his nativity, and 
he replied : " I was born on the corner of West Broadway and 
Lispenard street, while my mother was travelling in Europe !" 
Thus, the mass of mankind resemble the home, the institution, 
or nation, from which they emanate. Some children, the mo- 
ment they meet their street-companions, will indicate the last 
conversation heard at the table. Insensibly to itself the outside 
character gets formed, deformed, or reformed. The spirit of 
condemnation — this practice of giving one man credit as " good" 
and denouncing another as " evil" — condemning the "war- 
rior" and praising the " peaceman" — condemning the soul of 
the " Spanish Inquisitor" and holding up the beautiful charac- 
ter of "William Penn" — will vanish when men come to ap- 
prehend and comprehend that the human spirit is compelled 
to act out its inherited character. It is beautiful to contem- 
plate the character of the peaceful William Penn ; but the in- 
most spirit of the Spanish Inquisitor is just as peace-loving and 
beautiful 1 Nay, do not refuse to be harmonially Democratic. 
When you have the happiness to obtain a broad view of hu- 
manity you will aid to prevent individual discord — not by con- 
demnation, not by methods and measures which exasperate and 
excite and madden and mortify, but by lifting up, drawing out, 
and eliminating the divine " character" which is the inmost 
and the imperishable. 

In the case of William Penn, or of any good and truth-loving person, is there 
not some manifestation of the inmost Character? 

Most persons exhibit the character which they have derived 
from their immediate progenitors, first ; and, in all their after- 



AND PERPETUITY OF CHARACTER. 279 

years, they show out the character which they acquired during 
the periods of childhood and adolescence ; but very few there 
are, the inter-and-super-structures of whose character are trans- 
parent and plastic enough to reveal the form of the divine Im- 
age. There is now and then a temperamental conformation 
which affords an opportunity for the innermost to express and 
delineate itself by means of interlineation and open deeds, be- 
tween the interstices of the acquired and inherited characters. 
Occasionally, we meet minds showing traits of the divine and 
celestial through the little chinks, so to speak, through the 
orifices and apertures and nooks of superficial character ; 
and we rejoice exceedingly, in the midst of existing dissipa- 
tion and discord and imperfection, that human nature can man- 
ifest goodness and truthfulness which are ever beautiful and 
admirable. Once I stood by a bank of plants which would 
bear flowers. By some freak of workmen the great door of a 
barn was thrown upon those rose-bearing plants ; they were 
crushed to earth, and withered beneath the ponderous weight. 
ft Fortunately, however, there were three or four knot-holes in 
that door, and, in due course of season, three or four flowers 
came struggling up through those openings : and so presented 
themselves to the world crippled, deformed, yet beautiful. 
Now, do you not see what Society does ? It throws itself, 
with its ponderous weight of formalities, upon the babe as soon 
as it is born. Then the Church and the State combine to 
mould and fashion the individual into their image and likeness. 
But, as in the comparison, there are some holes in Society — 
desperate and deadly holes also both in Church and State — 
through which man's native goodness and integrity come 
out into beautiful blooming ! Also, through the characteristics 
inherited perhaps from mismated progenitors, somewhat of the 
divine bequeathment shines out : especially, when there exists 
an adequate cause to awaken and elicit it. Hence, in the lowest 
condition of man, there are some glimmerings of the Divine. 
Look within thee, man, and behold the imperishable ! The 
best Idea of thy divine progenitors is there ; the inmost, the 
harmonial, and the everlasting. Thou art master of, and will 
ultimately conquer, that which was inherited from thy father 



280 QUESTIONS ON THE ORIGIN 

and mother ; also, everything acquired by contact with Society, 
the State, or the Church. Take courage, therefore, man, 
and believe that, by coming together, shaking each other's 
hands, putting shoulder to shoulder and spirit to spirit, for the 
purpose of abolishing discordant characteristics, thou wilt 
receive heavenly assistance from the inhabitants of other 
Spheres. 

Will you not state more in detail your impressions regarding the reformation 
of character? 

Character, I reiterate, is that through which your spirit is 
forced to express itself. If you desire mental improvement, then 
improve your mental types and symbols. Obtain a knowledge 
of good works and deeds, as tools, with which to think ; for all 
your thoughts will take the shape of your language ; the same as 
water takes the shape of the drinking glass or containing ves- 
sels. Yes ; your thoughts are fluid, and will take the shape of 
your words. Therefore, let the utilitarian furniture of your 
mind be put in order. This furniture consists of thoughts, and 
the words wherewith your mind declareth itself; a pure spirit 
seeketh a well-furnished residence. This is the first lesson of 
a harmonial reform of private character. Do this, by means of 
co-operative effort, and both your acquired and inherited char- 
acters will rapidly grow threadbare — permitting the immortal 
to bloom out full of fragrance. The superficial character, 
which good minds abhor, resembleth the rust on iron. Man is 
born into society. Society corrodes and oxydizes his surface ; 
but glimmerings of the inward nature are occasionally seen 
through the exterior corroding. His neighbors chafe and ir- 
ritate him, and thus certain temperaments find that they have 
self-power to rub this rust away. Such minds master one set 
of circumstances, then another yet more positive. Here be- 
ginneth a grand lesson of individual responsibility ; the knowl- 
edge that you are a Power, not a circumstance. True, you are 
a circumstance at first, and you feel yourself helpless in the 
presence of surroundings. But one day you discover that a 
certain class of circumstances are not your masters, but, in- 
stead, that you have the power to surround and conquer ! Yes ; 
it is true, that influences and habits which are considered by 



AND PERPETUITY OF CHARACTER. 281 

an ignorant man to be his masters, are in reality not at all 
above the jurisdiction of his reason or will. Give a man con- 
fidence in himself, that he hath an inward character, and he 
will forthwith commence the work of reform and self-purifica- 
tion. Society and bad habits have superinduced rust upon thy 
mind. Begin now : rub it off by the friction of will. Oh, it 
giveth hope and gladness and strength to know that this ex- 
ternal character, which does not declare the spirit, is like the 
stinging burr surrounding the concealed chestnut. The time 
cometh when the burr is sundered and falleth away, and the 
sweet meat of the chestnut is visible. But if the chestnut be 
carelessly handled, before the arrival of this time, the multitu- 
dinous thorns on the burr will inflict irritation and surfacial 
wounds. Thus, there are persons so coated-over and hedged 
in, by various acquired mental habits, that they severely wound 
those in contact with them ; indeed, such temperaments may be 
compared to the sting and irritability produced by handling 
the thorns of a chestnut burr. The time certainly comes, I 
repeat, when this acquired character drops off! Man's exter- 
nal characteristics resemble the caterpillar which envelopes 
the butterfly. Hope for every one is based upon this fact : 
that all imperfections of both the external and the inherited 
characters are ultimately to be mastered and eradicated ; so 
that not even a vestige of them shall remain to interfere with 
the future happiness of the immortal mind ! Notwithstanding 
which each individual will differ everlastingly from every 
other individual. There is no one type proper to all mankind. 
You will be developed, therefore, in the likeness and image of 
your own interior character, bequeathed ante-natally by Fa- 
ther-God and Mother-Nature ! 



QUESTIONS ON THE 

BENEFITS AND PENALTIES OF INDIVIDUALISM, 



I begin with the affirmation that, by virtue of corresponden- 
tial or analogical reasoning, the facts of mechanism may be 
seen reproduced in the operations of the human mind. In 
mechanical laws, we notice a double tendency ; one from the 
outside to the internal — centripetalism ; the other from the 
centre outwardly — centrifugalism : between these dual forces, 
all bodies revolve upon their respective axes. Even so, in the 
operations of the human mind, we observe two corresponding 
motions. While the soul manifests a tendency to fly from its 
own centre, it exhibits no less the contrary motion. In fact, 
the soul experiences the most positive attraction toward its 
own integral substance. Therefore, I would say : man is or- 
ganized for centralization. He can not fly from this pivotal 
Innermost : on this rests the whole science of individualism. 
Individualism is the science of centralization ; the law of men- 
tal mechanics ; the doctrine of fidelity between orb and orbit ; 
the philosophy of harmonial relations between centre and cir- 
cumference. 

If it be true that man's mind is more interested in itself than in others, is he 
not a selfish and egotistic being 1 

Let me consider. . . Although the method is somewhat invidi- 
ous, yet it may be stated and adopted that man, in a certain 
sense, is a being of simple and compound selfishness : that is 



284 QUESTIONS ON THE BENEFITS 

to say, whenever lie acts, lie acts from and to his own centre 
of revolution. He can do nothing, except through the centre 
of his own individual soul. When the mind exhibits a con- 
stant tendency toward the welfare of its own consciousness — 
regardless of the rights, and liberties, and individual welfare, 
of others — we then term it " selfishness," on the lowest plane 
of individualism. Such a mind is circumscribed, and needs 
expansion — needs to exercise more fidelity to the law of cen- 
trifugalism. It wabbles and hobbles around its orbit, like a 
wheel without relation or proportion. 

Is it not natural for humanity to dislike and lepel a purely selfish character? 

Yes ; a selfish person is universally detested by Humanity. 
This species of selfishness is the characteristic of undeveloped 
minds ; a living sponge which absorbs every fluid or liquid near 
it ; a maelstrom which draws to itself each contiguous object ; 
a parsimonious desert which drinks greedily the April show- 
ers and morning dews, without returning so much as a blade 
of grass in gratitude — all these are more tolerable to contem- 
plate than a " selfish" character. The inevitable cupidity of 
such selfishness — the violence it does to our sense of individ- 
ual harmony — renders the condition transcendently repulsive. 

According to your foregone definition, there must be a better selfishness : how 
■would you describe it ? 

Yes ; there is another form of selfishness, which is transcen- 
dently admirable. What is that form ? It is the individual- 
ism of a human being manifested, like a fountain, from itself 
toward the circumference. Oh, there is grandeur in that ! 
Pause, and contemplate a human soul extending its orbit to 
the boundaries of Humanity! The centre expands — in con- 
sequence of its generous exertions to spread its consciousness 
— over the whole circumference of interest. This is the high- 
est form of selfishness ; an identification of the individual with 
the whole. Some characters are so large and divine, that 
nothing less than the happiness of the universe can satisfy their 
selfishness. 

Is it not natural for humanity to love and attract a purely benevolent char- 
acter 1 

It is very natural. Before such natures we reverently bow — 
praying to realize their strong embrace — to be lifted up by their 



AND PENALTIES OF INDIVIDUALISM. 285 

boundless love — to be sustained by the giant arms of such mas- 
terly minds. Some Jesus is born unto us ; after his death we 
build altars, and bend in adoration to attributes so Godlike. 
Perhaps, however, in the hours wasted in yielding homage to 
another, we impair and measurably sacrifice our own individu- 
alism. In admiring the greatness and goodness of others, in 
adoration without aspiration, we debilitate and cripple the 
attributes of self-development. Here cometh the explanation 
which we seek : the reason why there are so few individualized 
men and women in the world. Men lose their best individu- 
ality and independence by an ignorant admiration of these 
manifestations in others. 

In the English language there are two words, spelled and pronounced nearly 
alike, viz., "egotism" and "egoism" — will you explain the difference between 
them'? 

Yes ; " egotism" is the term which I apply to persons who 
exhibit the first and lowest form of selfishness ; but, to the last 
and best form of selfishness, the word " egoism" is strictly ap- 
plicable. Egotism is a true label for minds who place them- 
selves superciliously and pedantically first and foremost in a 
matter — who use the personal pronoun "I" in great abun- 
dance, as if everything and everybody were secondary and 
subordinated. On one occasion I received a letter from a per- 
son of this description, covering three sides of a common sheet, 
with no less than one hundred and sixteen " I's" in it — many 
of them emphasized — as if the writer stood between the earth 
and the sun, allowing the light of the latter to shine through 
his egotism as best it might ! But, on the other hand, to the 
feeling of self-hood — to the relations realizable between indi- 
vidualism and the world without — we may apply the other 
word, " egoism," with the strictest propriety. Egoism is the 
truest form of individuality. The egoist is one who realizes 
the whole world through — and only through — the centre of 
his own being. The senses are channels leading to that centre. 
The centre is the seat of motion ; the axis on which the soul 
revolves in its orbit. Egotism is the viper : egoism is the man. 
Between these may be found all forms and gradations of human 
character. 



286 QUESTIONS ON THE BENEFITS 

Has there not always existed a conflict between individual man and individual 
institutions ? 

Yes ; mankind have contended for supremacy on one side, 
and institutions have claimed exclusive control on the other. 
Institutions, although man-made and essentially arbitrary, have 
ever arrogated to themselves the right to rule the individual. 
And as it sometimes happens that the Individual openly ignores 
the right and supremacy of the Institution, so do we behold in- 
stitutional attempts, by means of gibbet, rack, and fagot, to 
bring the traitor into subjection and perpetual dishonor. All 
political and ecclesiastical governments have been based upon 
this theory, viz. : the innate disqualification of the individual 
for self -regulation, and hence the necessity of institutional 
laws. When Jesus asserted the supremacy of the individual, 
by his own life and teachings, the Roman Government consid- 
ered him a traitor and a conspirator ; and so the old Romans 
maintained the affirmed dignity and alleged superiority of the 
Institution by forcibly putting him through the sepulchre into 
the World of Spirits. 

Is it not true that Thomas Paine was also a conspirator ? 

He was. When Thomas Paine asserted the supremacy of the 
people of America to the English Government, or to any gov- 
ernment whatsoever, that country entertained the warmest ha- 
tred toward him, and would have gloried in his physical appre- 
hension and destruction. 

Was he thus sought out and destroyed 1 

No ; on the contrary, " The Rights of Man" prevailed over 
the wrongs of Government, over the prejudice of Tories ; and 
Thomas Paine was read and honored by the lovers of Liberty. 
Having had his soul roused by a contemplation of the rights of 
man over and above institutional laws, he ventured subsequently 
to investigate and to direct his attention, endorsed by a mani- 
fest love of Justice, toward man's bondage to ecclesiastical 
organisms and religious dogmas. Like a man who respected 
his individuality, he made investigations into the causes of 
theological usurpation, and freely — perhaps too freely — de- 
clared to America his discoveries and his consequent oppo- 
sition ; but America now, and mainly for this reason, disliked 



AND PENALTIES OF INDIVIDUALISM. 287 

and repelled him as cordially as before he was denounced and 
opposed by England. He desired simply to free the individ- 
ual ; but the ignorant supporters of institutions could reply 
only through denunciation and scorn. He realized and pro- 
claimed the natural supremacy of man to all political and ec- 
clesiastical organizations — his superiority to all churches and 
creeds — and hence, like a man thus illuminated (and not un- 
like the intrepid Jesus in the utterance of his honest convic- 
tions), he boldly and unqualifiedly presented his remonstrance 
to the world — accompanied with a collection of stupendous 
" Reasons," which (be it ever remembered) have been sneered 
at and despitefully used by the supporters of institutions, but 
never intelligently refuted or in any manner proved to be essen- 
tially unsound. 

What would you propose to do in honor of Thomas Paine, for his defence of 
Human Rights 1 

Let me reflect. . . . We have already too many saints ; else 
I would propose the immediate canonization of Thomas Paine. 
He may have said and committed a thousand foolish things, 
and so have all saints ; may have, in his impatience, wounded 
the sickly-sentimental piety of honestly-prejudiced and impious 
persons ; but, notwithstanding all, his noble defence of man's 
sovereignty — his unqualified announcement of the intrinsic 
inferiority of all institutions to man — covers a multitude of 
sins (or slanders), and renders him as worthy of a place in the 
" calendar of saints" as any humanitarian of past times. Saints 
of past times were appendages of institutions — were advocates 
of the supremacy of civil and religious laws, over the rights 
and liberties of Individual Man. But Thomas Paine, unlike 
saints, was a citizen of the world — an advocate of the sover- 
eignty of the soul — and should therefore be called " Saint 
Thomas" instead of those blasphemous titles given him by the 
Church. And yet, I would not blaspheme nor willingly dis- 
honor the memory of Thomas Paine : therefore, I refuse further 
to stigmatize his character by attaching the word " saint" to 
any portion of it. Yes, he was superior to a saint ! Why so ? 
Because he was a defender of the Rights of Man ; while saints, 
on the contrary, are foes of individualism, and defenders of the 



288 QUESTIONS ON THE BENEFITS 

faith. They endeavor to anathematize independent manhood 
in this life, and to fix its damnation throughout eternity. 

Suppose Mankind should yield to the requirements of Institutions, what would 
follow 1 

The answer is plain. In proportion as minds yield individ- 
ual supremacy to the Church or State, they give themselves 
up to the encroachments of slavery and to its multifarious deg- 
radations. Institutions combine and conspire against individ- 
ual freedom ; and men, so long accustomed to vassalage, yield 
themselves conscientiously to perpetuate the iniquity. For ex- 
ample : the political Institutions of America deemed it expe- 
dient to legislate and enforce a Fugitive-Slave Law. This law 
commands those in bondage to remain so, under the penalty 
of being captured and punished for every violation. And each 
man in the Free States is appointed by government as a sheriff, 
with power to arrest the flyiug fugitive, and consign him to the 
control and management of his master. But suppose I believe 
that a man's rights and a man's liberties, irrespective of com- 
plexion, are first, and foremost, and supreme ; furthermore, 
suppose I believe the Church and State, and all other institu- 
tions, to be secondary and intrinsically inferior to the prerog- 
atives of the individual ; and suppose, also, that the Church 
preaches submission to civil laws, and that the State com- 
mands me to live and act in subordination to its decrees ; I 
ask — "What must I do ? Shall I sacrifice my soul on the 
altar of an institution ?" Oh, Religion of Justice, forbid it ! 
My course is plain before me : I would obey my soul's highest 
perceptions of Right, although the State might burn me with 
green fagots as Calvin did Servetus ! 

Would you not at this point receive some of the penalties of individualism 1 

Yes ; but these penalties are positive benefits, and of high 
service. See ! I stand in friendship with my own central con- 
sciousness ! 1 have h elped a fugitive to gain individual freedom. 
Therefore, before the omnipresent bar of my Father-God, I stand 
acquitted of all crime ; and more, I am deeply and substantially 
rewarded for doing a deed of goodness for my brother ! 

What kind of reward is that which you thus receive 1 

My reward consisteth in the building up and confirmation 
of my individualism, which giveth me — 



AND PENALTIES OF INDIVIDUALISM. 289 

" Light and strength to bear 
My portion of the weight of caro 
That crushes into dumb despair 
One half the human race!" 

And, besides, the benefits come out at another point : I am 
not individually lost in a mischievous institution ; I am not de- 
stroyed, as a ship is swallowed, in the recognised maelstrom ! 
Great men, and the so-called wise, around me, are supporters 
of organizations : they stand in the midst of evils, and have, 
therefore, no power to discern them ; while I rest unperturbed 
on the firm basis of my own God-inherited interior spirit, wor- 
shipping Truth, and Justice, and Harmony, through the func- 
tions and portals of my individual existence. 

But, in the midst of these internal benefits, do you not experience outward 
penalties % 

Yes ; the outward penalties, though negative and transitory, 
tread hard upon the heels of these permanent benefits. They 
occupy the battle-ground of my worldly relations. Instead of 
smiles, I meet sneers. Stones are given for bread. Old friends 
withdraw their friendship. They pity my fantastic zeal, and 
smile contemptuously. But I would join Paul, conferring " not 
with flesh or blood." They think and treat my family as un- 
worthy of usual respect ; although they may, from habits of 
duty, try to entertain philanthropic sentiments. In my busi- 
ness relations I am assailed at every assailable point. Old cus- 
tomers leave me very fast ; new ones, even with less reputation, 
come very slow. At school, my cherished ones are pointed at. 
The orthodox minister's children — echoing what they hear at 
their home respecting me — hoot scornfully at mine. And 
thus my wife, with a conservative mind, is roused to the hor- 
rors of my unpopularity. She seriously prays for deliverance ; 
perhaps, she contemplates divorce. Her relatives combine with 
her, and my prudential friends unite, to augment the opposi- 
tion. Every other mail brings me advisory letters from very 
honorable uncles, and reproving messages from religious, time- 
serving, and respectable aunts. The minister frowns upon me : 
therefore, my church-going wife ; therefore, my worldly chil- 
dren. Like Roger Williams, I must seek some spot of Liberty, 

19 



290 QUESTIONS ON THE BENEFITS 

or be for ever buried in the tomb of popular Institutions. Like 
the brave Huguenots, I must quit the presence of my foes, or 
be crushed beneath their overmastering weight. Like Madame 
Roland, I must respect my soul, and die ; or, like Galileo, pru- 
dentially confess Truth to be an error, and live an ignominious 
life ! 

Suppose you do, from prudential reasons, lire in harmony with prevailing 
Institutions : where will you go to find an instance of greater strength t 

This question is hard to answer. If I am not true to my 
own centralization of consciousness — if I honor not my own 
orb and orbit — where can I expect to find what I fail to re- 
vere in myself ? Shall I find it in Jesus, in John, or in Paul ? 
If so, then must I also seek and find it, as they did, in the sci- 
ence of individualism. If I spend my time in acts of devotion 
to the memory of these individuals, then will I weaken or neg- 
lect my oivn poiver to be as they were. In the most interior 
closet of their own souls, these men prayed to the G-od whom 
they could realize. So also must I pray to that God whom I 
can realize. I must be strengthened in my personal progres- 
sion ; I must aim equally after political and religious emanci- 
pation ; I must learn, as it were by heart, the Law of Liberty. 
In body and in soul I must develop to the fullness of the stature 
of a perfect Man ! 

Is there not a period, in the life of every one, when the soul is called to decide 
whether it will be a master or a slave 1 

Yes ; every kind of situation, and all species of circum- 
stances, bring the high and low alike to this experience : the 
mechanic, whether he will be a boss or a workman ; the trades- 
man, whether he will be a merchant or a salesman ; the stu- 
dent, whether he will be a public man or a private artisan ; 
the printer, whether he will be an editor or " follow copy ;" 
the husband, whether he shall assume the reins of family gov- 
ernment ; the wife, whether she will be a convenience or a 
companion. 

In true individualism is there any necessary antagonism 1 

I think not. The motto is, " Let each one be all he can, 
for the benefit of the whole." It is true that individual cur- 
rents may encounter and cross each other's paths — as the 
planets and the comets waltz through each other's orbits ; but, 



AND PENALTIES OF INDIVIDUALISM. 291 

with cultured persons, there is in this no infringement, no un- 
welcome or evil discord. Say to the torrent : " Stop in the 
midst of yon mountain ; because, should you flow down as you 
wish, you will uproot the trees of the valley." The torrent 
will answer: " I must obey the law of my nature." 

Does Mother-Nature wish every individual to remain true to himself I 

Yes ; although there is a constant divergence and a conver- 
gence — a perpetual centripetalism and a centrifugalism — in 
the daily operation of individual souls — yet, steadily does 
Mother-Nature defend each against every other, and maintain 
a sort of police regulation and jurisdiction in her every depart- 
ment. " Nothing is more marked," says a writer, " than the 
power by which individuals are guarded from individuals." 
This is a world " where every benefactor becomes easily a 
malefactor, merely by a continuation of his activity into places 
where it is not due." Thus, the pleasurable warmth of the 
body might be continued into a fever ; or, the kindness of an 
unwise friend could be prolonged and extended out into cru- 
elty. All things are blessings only as they come and go when 
needed. 

Should a man guard his Individualism against the magnetical influence of Insti- 
tutionalism ? 

Certainly. If I were to state this matter commercially, I 
would ask : " Does it profit a man to sell his soul for popu- 
larity?" If he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own 
soul (its individualism), how can he be profited ? What shall 
a man give in exchange for his soul ? In other words : " What 
is there in the world more valuable than Manhood to a Man, 
or Womanhood to a Woman ?" The World answers, " Noth- 
ing !" And yet, behold the universal practice of distrusting 
and crucifying the Individual ! Before the gods mankind bow 
— yielding adoration to mythological idols — to the dishonor- 
ing and degradation of his own individuality. 

Man has been taught to distrust himself, and to extol the virtues of invisible 
beings : is this wrong ? 

All exaggeration, I reiterate, is injustice. Ignorant of his 
nature, and ignorant not less of the mass of idolatry predicated 
upon it, man habitually does an injustice to himself (in his re- 



292 QUESTIONS ON THE BENEFITS 

ligious systems), by encouraging the development of extrava- 
gant conceptions of divine personalities. The institution of 
the Trinity has well-nigh absorbed the individual Unity of man. 
Man can not afford to take from himself and give to gods. No : 
he is himself in need of all the veneration which he bestows on 
supposed divinities. He needs all the time and all the talents 
for purposes of personal development, which, with such imbe- 
cile prodigality, he consecrates to the wealthy Upper Circles 
of Love and Wisdom. The rights of men, in all systems of 
religion, are buried in the rights of God. 

But man is really very insignificant : what is man, but a drop in the bucket ? 

True: but the ocean is composed of lesser oceans — as the 
heart of little hearts, and the brain of lesser brains. Does not 
this fact demonstrate the importance of the least to the exist- 
ence of the greatest? Yea, I urge the proposition — that all 
thought which is expended in magnifying theological abstrac- 
tions, is just so much subtracted from the valuation and wel- 
fare of human beings. You purloin from your own divinely- 
inherited character, and give to self-admiring gods, who have, 
consequently, no need of your generosity or adoration. Tran- 
sitional and impractical minds frequently employ themselves, 
in profoundest seriousness, by grotesquely and uselessly mag- 
nifying the attributes and works of their favorite deities. These 
minds render the invisible so boundless and all-important, that 
Man is almost utterly lost sight of — is pronounced as insignifi- 
cant — as an infinitesimal portion of the Infinite Whole — the 
soul to be swallowed up eventually by the great Ocean of Life 
whence all things flow. Yes, the fact can not be concealed, 
that men first create gods ; that the process of creation subse- 
quently changes hands ; and, lastly, that gods make men. In- 
numerable religious errors, I repeat, have taken their rise from 
these false exaggerations. Absurdities, insufferably crude and 
barbarously despotic, can claim no other parentage. 

What do you consider to be the most hurtful effect of these exaggerations ? 

The most prominent of all religious despotisms — growing 
out of human exaggerations of the divine, and consequent dimi- 
nutions of the human — is, the concession to gods of all rights 
and all liberties, and the permission or granting to man a re- 



AND PENALTIES OF INDIVIDUALISM. 293 

siduiiHi of duties and obligations. Man, according to such 
religions, can never feel free of debt. He is a slave ! His life 
is permitted or intrusted to him. He must work for the mytho- 
logic Master ! This, in plain words, is a religious despotism. 
It neutralizes and absorbs the individualism of man. It seeks 
to impart propensities toward servility. It takes from him the 
proprietorship of an inivard power, on which alone he can un- 
furl the banner of Liberty. Deplorably true is it that the indi- 
viduality and sovereignty of men are almost irretrievably lost 
in these false exaggerations of the individuality and sovereignty 
of gods. Man first makes an all-absorbing Idol ; then, in ten 
generations, he forgets that he made it ; then he puts into tra- 
dition that it (the Idol) existed from all eternity ; then he 
teaches, or pays men to teach, his convictions to his children ; 
and, lastly, succeeds in establishing a superstitious theory of 
divine government. And why ? Because his belief has crushed 
out almost all the individualism of his own spirit. By a har- 
ness of iron and traces of steel, the real creature is attached 
to the inquisitorial car of the fabulous Creator. 

Did the doctrine of "duty" arise from the concession of rights to the 
gods? 

Yes ; the phantom of " Duty" stands ever near, with upraised 
lash, to whip the devotee through the countless vicissitudes of 
a rudimental existence. The Romanish system permits its 
popes, its bishops, its priests, and the catalogue of saints, to 
participate more or less in heavenly rights and liberties, which 
rights and liberties are denied to common men. But Protestant- 
ism, being an improvement, permits the universal diffusion of 
these rights. It teaches each man to consider himself a centre 
of political privileges ; that he may exercise private conscience 
on questions of religion ; that, in prayer, he may hold a private 
correspondence with Heaven ; that, in the sphere of his own 
free will, he can and does maintain certain private moral busi- 
ness relations of "profit and loss" with the Divine Being. 
And yet, these two systems of religion are predicated upon 
equally false exaggerations of the gods — the Trinity. 

How can you sustain this assertion ? 

By the fact that both systems, in considering human relations 



294 QUESTIONS ON THE BENEFITS 

to God, are alike in diminishing man's individualism. In these 
conscientious variations, from the line of Truth, lie all the per- 
nicious mistakes of theologians. The rights which they theo- 
logically concede to man, are not regarded as integral, but 
permitted only, by the system of government which God has 
seen fit to adopt for the regulation of his creatures. Free will 
and liberties are lent to man, if I may so say, as an experiment 
on the part of the gods — to see what he will do, and where he 
will go, by the use which he makes of them — whether to 
heaven, or to hell. Now, I affirm all this to be the most un- 
ivholesome form of theology. Man can never grow into true 
manhood under it ; no more than can a southern slave grow 
wealthy by picking cotton during a long life for an indolent 
planter. I know of no religious system which conceives that 
man has constitutional rights and integral liberties — indepen- 
dent of all grants or privileges, lets or hindrances, of an arbi- 
trary character. And, therefore, the Harmonial Philosophy 
which affirms man to be an organization of essences and ele- 
ments — imparting rights and liberties of their own — is in 
direct antagonism to all systems of theology, and to all popu- 
lar forms of religious worship. Hence it freely declareth it- 
self to be the friend of Truth ; the exponent and promoter of 
the interests of Humanity. 

Are declarations of individualism daily multiplying ? 

Yes ; and the influence of Institutions is daily diminishing. 
Man has gradually approached the centre of gravity ; and the 
times are pregnant with promise, that each may become a law 
unto himself. In every department of society we need more 
individualism. There is now too much sameness ; the monot- 
ony is irksome ; we almost see the uniformity of imbecility. 
Farmers, for instance, should be more individualized. It is to 
some extent true that their position bestows upon them social 
independence. But is it not sad to behold the mental same- 
ness throughout ? The son laying stone-walls and digging 
ditches just as his father and grandfather did before him ! The 
same old plan of haymaking. The barns and outhouses have 
no new departments. Cattle are kept through the seasons as 
they were a century ago. The treatment of lowlands is little 



AND PENALTIES OF INDIVIDUALISM. 295 

better than when the first farmer began. And yet, we stand 
on the brink of a utilitarian improvement in the science of Ag- 
riculture. The river of Progress rolls majestically before the 
young farmer's vision ; and now comes the question, " Who 
will be the Columbus of this new voyage ?" The general suc- 
cess of all European farmers — the recent development of agri- 
cultural machinery — the spirit of progress exhibited by West- 
ern earth-workers — all, fixes a foundation for the realization 
of ambitious hopes in this direction. 

Have we also promises of more individualism in the medical world ? 

Yes ; and I will tell why it must come. Although the troop 
of candidates for the regular profession is large, absorbing 
some of our best young men, yet the confidence of the mass of 
the people is being daily taken from drugs, and placed upon 
obedience to the Laws of Nature. Hence, all manner of medi- 
cal individualism is being, and must continue to be, developed. 
Men and women, independently, are entering the field of Medi- 
cal Reform. Each reiterates this gospel : " Health consists in 
obedience to Physiological and Mental Laws." Clairvoyance 
has done much toward spreading man's faith in the philosophy 
of getting well under the influence of simple remedies. There- 
fore, men may cherish much hope that the Laws of Health will 
one day concern the world more than the astrological science 
of curing Disease. 

Does individualism appear among editors of newspapers and conductors of 
periodicals % 

I can not give the most desirable answer. Political antago- 
nism has crushed hundreds of editors beneath the weight of party 
restrictions. Now-and-then, however, there cometh a man from 
the political institutions, who holds up his head, swings his 
own arms, thinks and writes his own thoughts, publishes his 
own " Chronotype," or mounts his own " Tribune," pronoun- 
cing "pro and con" on prevailing things and ideas, and at 
length is heard no more. 

Do people in general appreciate the penalties of individualism ? 

No ; the penalties of individual independence are un- 
known to those who have not had the womanhood or the 
manhood to make a declaration. Of course, by "indepen- 



296 QUESTIONS ON THE BENEFITS 

dence," I am not understood to mean a burly, swaggering, de- 
fiant opposition to established customs ; nor yet am I appre- 
hended to mean a foolish, egotistic pride of being unlike others, 
which indicates a self-conceited and pugnacious character. No, 
nothing of this kind enters into my impressions of individual 
independence. But, instead, I mean a straightforward, manly, 
and womanly perseverance in honor of the Spiritual Right that 
lives and rules within — a strict obedience to the highest idea 
of Truth that resides in your own soul — regardless of all po- 
litical institutions and ecclesiastical requisitions to the contra- 
ry. JS^ Why judge ye not of yourselves what is Right ? «^|f 
Why not act as your soul, in its highest mood, bids you to act ? 
The cost, or the penalty ? That, I know, is heavy. But, mark 
the fact : you can never respect your own nature on any less 
terms ! You can never honor your Father-God and Mother- 
Nature by a less expensive existence. Out of the heavens a 
voice speaks to each individual soul : u Sell all thou hast, and 
follow Truth r 

But will you tell us what is Truth ? 

Your deepest and highest conviction, that is your Truth; 
my deepest and highest conviction, that is mine. You can not, 
therefore, altogether follow me, nor I you ; but each may re- 
volve in his own orbit, to the other's benefit. 

On this principle, who can help admiring the individualism of John Huss, the 
Bohemian reformer ? 

John Huss stood up against what he felt to be religious in- 
tolerance and error. He lived nearly a century before Mar- 
tin Luther, opposed the doctrine of transubstantiation, and, in 
consequence, was physically burned to death by order of an in- 
stitution called the Council of Constance. In your souls I 
behold reverence for the Individual; for the Council, abhor- 
rence only. 

Was not Martin Luther another instance of individual protest against the 
authority of institutions ? 

Yes ; when Martin Luther was requested, by the nobility, 
and princes, and prelates of Germany, to defend his new doc- 
trine, he responded in person ; and before the Emperor, in the 
presence of a vast assemblage of opponents, he manfully as- 
serted that noble Sovereignty of Individuality and Reason 



AND PENALTIES OF INDIVIDUALISM. 297 

which Protestants now deplore in you and me ! He concluded his 
defence by saying : " Let me, then, be refuted and convinced by 
the clearest arguments ; otherwise I can not and will not recant : 
for it is neither safe nor expedient to act against conscience. 
Here I take my stand ; I can do no otherwise, so help me 
God !" However much men feel to differ from Luther, one 
thing is certain — that his individualism challenges universal 
homage. It is with similar emotions that I think of Sweden- 
borg and of John Wesley, of John Murray and of George Fox, 
of Charles Fourier and of Robert Owen, of William Ellery 
Charming, George Combe, and Theodore Parker. 

What would ydlfc say of these men ? 

Of these men I might say many things. But it is their indi- 
vidualism which impresses me deepest ; the manifest superiority 
of their souls to Institutions ! No calm mind can withhold 
from these men feelings of respect, of veneration. And yet 
we may not, by being true to our own orbits, find ourselves in 
unison with them. But this is not worthy of a thought. Be- 
cause, as I have said, individualism brings no inevitable antag- 
onism ; merely an honorable difference ; conceding to each star 
(to each soul) a glory of its own. 

Are there not other examples of individualism 1 

Yes ; there are many more. How the soul kindles with 
the fires of hope, when, in the midst of Institutions, it con- 
templates the Individuality of such as William Lloyd Garri- 
son and Wendell Phillips, of Lucretia Mott and Lucy Stone ! 
What individualism do these exhibit ! These typify a greater 
troop to emerge from Institutions. Thomas Carlyle, Henry 
Ward Beecher, and Ralph Waldo Emerson : how exalted above 
Institutions do these minds sometimes appear ! Oh, I could 
almost consent to call these independent persons " saints" — 
but I forbear : yes, and my reason for forbearing is, that 
" saints" have, from the first, advocated Institutions (the des- 
potism of arbitrary laws), in opposition to the Rights of Indi- 
vidual Man ! 

Will unimaginative and utilitarian minds practise individualism without first 
calculating the wordly penalties ? 

I think not. Merchants stop with the question of " profit 






298 QUESTIONS ON THE BENEFITS 

and loss :" how much per annum will it cost to tell the Truth 
in trade ? Where is the man, in the vortex of business, who 
will follow Truth ? Will the wine-merchant, even when con- 
vinced that his merchandise is bad for man, leave his occupa- 
tion? Not at all. Why not? Because it costs too many dollars. 
Will the tobacconist, the flour-speculator, the stock-broker, the 
physician, the lawyer, or the clergyman, will any one of these, 
when persuaded that his occupation is wrong, leave the busi- 
ness, assert the soul's supremacy, and do something more con- 
genial ? I fear not : because the penalty is too severe. Oh, 
what shall a man give in exchange for his soul ? 

If you were to consider this question like a merchant, what would you say 1 

If I were to speak as a merchant, I would say, that it will 
never " pay" to resign or neglect the centristantial fact of the 
soul. Each man and each woman occupies an original posi- 
tion in the scale of life. There are intrinsically no " common 
people :" a Plato and a Paul, a Huss and a Howard, are hu- 
man possibilities. These are bows of promise for you and I, 
and even more ; they seem to say : " Be faithful, all ye chil- 
dren of earth, for greater works than these shall ye do !" 
The hearty Hibernian uttered this truth when he jovially ex- 
claimed : " Mind yer eye (I), boys : for one man's good as an- 
other, and betther too." Perhaps, all men feel an inward 
prophecy of this fact. 

Do you mean to teach that individualism is an innate inheritance ? 

Yes ; each one is an eternal Fact — and to it, every other 
fact in the universe must eventually come. The exact point 
of time when each person " will be better," and do " greater 
works" than earthy ideal now prognosticates, will remain with 
the Law of progressive development to determine. But 
through the alembic of Reason — through the receptive vessels 
of man's consciousness — must flow every Truth, and every 
Fact, also, which a principle can possibly embrace. Each, 
therefore, should have his own Life — his own Liberty — his 
own Experience — his own Truth. To man's mind everything 
is subservient. The heavens above, the earth beneath, and 
profoundest principles, are all his own. To the Turk and 
Christian, to the Jew and Gentile, to the Serf and Emperor, 



AND PENALTIES OP INDIVIDUALISM. 299 

to the Slave and Master — to each of these, all rights and all 
liberties will come at last. I know this in the depth of spirit 
ual wisdom. Most graceful do I feel for the power to realize 
the fact, that influences are now being exerted, on all sides, 
for the amelioration of our universal race and the establish- 
ment of individual Rights and Liberties. 

What have sectarians said about rights and liberties ? 

The time hath been, as I have shown, and it is not gone by, 
when sectarians believed that none on earth had rights and 
liberties, save the pope, the king, the bishop, and priest. Our 
ancestors, especially those who lived prior to the protestation 
of Luther, held to these opinions. This doctrine is theocratic, 
is monocratic, is aristocratic, is — everything, but democratic 
and republican ! All Christian institutions have somewhat to 
unlearn on this subject. By the Church system, man is still de- 
nied the ownership of any constitutional liberties. Free Agency 
is part of a religious Drama : an alleged scheme, on the part of 
gods, to escape the blame of being accessory to the torment of 
the wicked. Protestant clergymen, with few exceptions, assert 
the all-mightiness of God, and thus logically demonstrate that 
all rights remain with the gods — to man, a category of duties. 
The gods command ; and man should obey. 

What is this but a Eoman Catholic idea a little more tenderly stated 1 

It is the same thing. In essence, the two systems assert the 
same dogma, viz. : that the people have no rights, only duties — 
obligations to the gods, through obedience to the commandments 
of his vicegerents — to the dignitaries of the Church. 

Need I further explain the restriction which all this imposes on individual- 
ism'? 

Yes ; while there remains, in popular creeds and institutions, 
ideas so utterly hostile to the " Rights of Man," man can not 
enjoy individual liberties. The idea that the gods are lawless, 
because more powerful than we, is every way injurious. It 
serves to make man a weak, timid, superstitious, miserable 
slave! Suppose the mythological gods to be almighty — sup- 
pose they possess all powers : does might make Right ? The 
true idea of Father-God is very different. He can not change. 
The Central Power of this Universe is eternally amenable — 



300 BENEFITS AND PENALTIES OF INDIVIDUALISM. 

as much as you and I — to the unchangeable Laws of Truth, 
Justice, Love, Wisdom, Liberty. This idea repudiates all ar- 
bitrary religion : and thus, unlike any theology, liberates the 
Individual. 

Will you not utter a few practical additional words, by way of encourage- 
ment? 

Yes ; let all men take courage. The long midnight age of 
despotic combinations is fast departing. But, like a mighty 
saurian-lizzard of primeval origin, it will struggle desperately 
before it dies. You will be summoned to the field of battle. 
The individualism of man is to be resurrected. The few will 
profoundly respect and fight for it ; while the many will side 
with institutionalism. But one Man will put ten thousand such 
to flight : and the victory will be sure and speedy, on the side 
of Humanity. It is impossible to make all, of any country, 
followers of any one man, except for a brief period. Why 
not ? Because no one can feel and supply the wants of all — 
Each man comes into being with a code of immutable laws. 
These laws are righteous — adapted to the development of the 
whole man — and, some day, the penalty is heavy if he goes coun- 
ter to their demands. These laws are more important to your 
welfare — are more divine — than all the external bibles, creeds, 
codes, or churches. Nay : do not doubt ! In all soberness I 
tell you the simple Truth. Faithful obedience to these laws 
will develop each one's innate character differently, but har- 
moniously. Under these conditions, each man would become 
A man : and each woman a woman — not the mere things of 
custom, as they now are — imitator of others less developed 
than themselves — fleeting reflections of the images of antiquity 
— automatic followers of some particular age or personage. 
The well-meaning utilitarian clergy of America think, com- 
mercially, that " it don't pay" to teach this modern doctrine of 
personal emancipation : to teach a religion so inexpensive as 
individualism. Hence they meet us, at the very threshold of 
this subject, with a " Thus said the Lord." But I say : " Thus 
saith Humanity." Humanity is not greater than Father-God, 
I grant ; nevertheless, it is the broadest and truest exponent of 
His word and works. 



QUESTIONS ON THE 

BENEFITS AND PENALTIES OF INSTITUTIONAL^. 



The terrific conflict between man and institutions, has con- 
tinued for ages. Individuals have at long intervals openly 
rebelled against institutional arrogance and despotism; but, 
the " rebels" were soon struck down and silenced by the in- 
quisitorial aids of tyranny — prisons, dungeons, racks, fagots, 
and the guillotine. But the revolutionary spirit of these indi- 
vidual rebels lived after them. The spirit of Liberty never 
sleeps — never lies on the dungeon's floor. Ignorance may 
retard the progress of liberty ; but Nature, in due time, is 
mighty for the Right. Men have yet a valuable lesson to learn 
—viz. : that all penalties are benefits : that, through discord 
we ascend to harmony. 

What are the terms with which the world designates the friends and enemies 
of institutions 1 

Supporters of venerable institutions are called " Pharisees" 
and " conservatives ;" opposers are called " radicals" and 
" fanatics." Men who lend their money and influence to sus- 
tain institutions, are termed " the friends of law and order :" 
the reformers of institutionalism, on the other hand, are stig- 
matized as " abandoned heretics and godless infidels." Friends 
of institutions are called " loyalists ;" the friends of Human 
Rights are marked down in history as " conspirators." Insti- 
tutions and Aristocracy were married long ago ; the ceremony 



302 QUESTIONS ON THE BENEFITS 

was solemnized by two Mosaic priests — the first is Pride, the 
second is Power. Individualism and Harmonialism are also 
married ; they wedded each the other, in the presence of Na- 
ture's two prime ministers — the first is Reason, the second is 
Liberty. On the side of institutions you behold all kings, em- 
perors, popes, priests, and orthodox clergymen ; on the side 
of human Liberty you behold the slave, the serf, working men, 
working women, hewers of wood, drawers of water, fishermen, 
and minds who perform their own thinking. Institutionalism 
dwells in churches, in palaces, in opulent families ; individual- 
ism, on the contrary, lives in honest heads and courageous 
hearts. Institutionalism goes to heaven by faith ; individual- 
ism, by works. One serves theology and the gods ; the other 
anthropology and mankind. 

You said that institutionalism serves the gods : have gods any need of human 
gifts? 

Far from it : must slaves work, from babyhood to the tomb, 
to make rich masters richer ? The chief end of man, on earth, 
is to bless and elevate Humanity. To attempt to glorify the 
gods — the Trinity — would be an act of supererogation. 
Can man add anything to the glory of gods ? Can man im- 
part new splendor to the heavens ? Nay : man should only 
attempt possibilities. He can add glory and splendor to his 
kind ; this, then, is his field of action. Such would be Indi- 
vidualism; the religion of Manhood. 

Is institutionalism father of churches and governments 1 

Yes ; there are already hundreds of thousands of churches 
dedicated to the gods ; but there are not ten consecrated to 
Mankind. Governments are made to defend the rich ; and to 
subjugate the poor. In Louisville, Kentucky, a rich man's son 
was recently freed from the gallows, through the power of 
money ; while almost every month we hear of " the dignity 
of the law" being vindicated by the formal strangulation of 
friendless persons for crimes far less aggravating. Institutions 
are made, by the strong, to maintain power. Individuals, 
therefore, have but one course to pursue — namely — to rebel 
against Institutions, and take the penalties. 



AND PENALTIES OF INSTITUTION ALISM. 303 

Will you briefly reconsider the influence of institutions upon character ? 

Yes ; the power of institutions, over the liberties and ter- 
tiary characteristics of individuals, is tremendous. Few can 
withstand the popularity of their despotism. Few can main- 
tain manhood, and manifest their divine character, in the midst 
of a magnetism so energetic. To many persons, with certain 
predisposed secondary characters, the attractive power of 
popular institutions is irresistible. In fact, popularity to the 
majority of minds, is like some fair crystal river, in which 
melancholy pilgrims drown themselves. They lose themselves 
willingly in its enticing bosom. It looks smooth, the tide is 
popular, and in they plunge. The Niagara of Reformation is 
too fearful for the navigator of inland rivers. The roar of 
Revolution disturbs the opium-eater. He who unfortunately 
has been nursed by the hand-maid of Institutions, rocked in 
the cradle of Popularity, fed gruel with the silver-spoon of 
Aristocracy, and sung to sleep in the lap of Opulence, is not 
the man for Humanity. No ! Humanity's man, on the con- 
trary, is always born in a manger. He hath the blood of the 
people in him. He declareth that institutions were made for 
man ; not man for institutions. Governments and religions are 
less than Man — because, from his mind they emanated. There- 
fore, all laws are really subject to the will of the world. Each 
man is a prophet, priest, and king. 

Are you not opening mischievous liberties to individuals ? 

No one need fear the sovereignty of individualism; the 
right of each to act in accordance with his highest Intuitions. 
For, should one man transcend his boundaries, another will let 
him know it. We need to practise the gospel of self-govern- 
ment. The conservative may cry aloud for the safety and 
sanctity of Institutions. But heed him not ! His voice cometh 
not from the open field, not from the mountain's top. Far 
from it. On the contrary, his cries proceedeth from the wil- 
derness of crime and marshes of despotism, which are tenfold 
more dangerous than the everglades of Florida. Hark ye ! 
American Republicanism will be transformed into Tyranny, un- 
less individual man declareth himself independent of all politi- 
cal and ecclesiastical Institutions. 



304 QUESTIONS ON THE BENEFITS 

Do you not believe that American institutions, more than those of any other 
country, look toward Freedom 1 

American churchianity is too despotic ; so, also, are American 
politics ; and yet, it is true, that both, more than those of any- 
other country, are looking toward Freedom. It is also true 
that independence of mind and speech, is not encouraged but 
generally denounced. Men think and speak as yet on suffer- 
ance. Yes ; I urge the proposition, that the right to think 
and to speak freely is not yet established. On the Connecticut 
Statute-Book is a law against freely discussing, what I term 
the gods — usually called the " Trinity." The Hartford Bible 
Convention was, therefore, denounced as " illegal" by several 
conservatives. If the speakers at that memorable convention 
were not legally apprehended, " fined one hundred dollars, and 
sent to jail," the fact was owing to a spirit of toleration per- 
vading the community ; not to any real love of Liberty as a 
principle of human speech and action. That convention was 
permitted, suffered, tolerated ; not defended and protected by 
the legal or religious institutions of America. Yea, I repeat 
it, we have no absolute Liberty among us. We demand some- 
thing more than a patronizing spirit of toleration: because, 
there is no security for individual freedom under circumstances 
so superficial and temporary. According to our institutions, 
as I have already said, the wife is the husband's property. 
He owns her person, her garments, her children, her rights, 
her liberties. But woman, becoming more and more individu- 
alized, is now resolved to rebel against our institutions. Not 
only has she determined to assert her Rights, but she has re- 
solved to step forward and take them. The Conservative says : 
" Woman has now as much liberty as man." But here is the 
mistake : her liberty is not real. The wife is tolerated or 
suffered to do nearly as she pleases ; nevertheless, the laws of 
the institutions are against her individuality. Her liberty is 
not a matter of principle ; it is secured mainly through affec- 
tion, urbanity, and civility ; it is but a defence of the weak by 
the strong. 

Do you mean to affirm that in this, as in every other respect, our political in > 
stitutions are antagonistic to individual freedom ? 

Yerily ; and the same is true of our American Church. It 



AND PENALTIES OF INSTITUTIONALISM. 305 

was not wholly owing to the love of Liberty among priests, 
that the church meddles not with political action. That is to 
say, the people are not politically free, because the priests love 
to have it so ; far from it ; they endorse individual liberty in 
legislation — first, because they make a a virtue of necessity" 
— second, because northern people, as a mass, have outgrown 
the absolute tyranny of institutionalism. It was not Love of 
Liberty that originally separated State and Church : it was the 
anger of Henry VIII. of England ; because the Pope would 
not divorce him from his then wife, Catharine of Aragon. 
But good has come out of it ! And yet, our political institu- 
tions would not contradict popular ecclesiastical enactments. 
The Church says that Masters and Servants are proper accord- 
ing to providential decrees; the State responds — " Amen." 
The Church says that Paul, the Saint, sent the slave back to 
his master ; the State responds " Amen," and institutes a 
Fugitive Slave Law. The Church asserts that " the desires of 
the wife shall be unto her husband, and that he shall rule over 
her ;" the State responds " Amen," and institutes legal provis- 
ions accordingly. But humanity is somewhat resurrected in 
this respect, and laws more liberal and just are gradually be- 
ing developed. " To smother its grand adversary, Liberty 
(says that great political economist and faithful historian, 
Guizot), has ever been the first and last aim of the church. 
The overthrow of freedom is its mission and its hope. No 
man can read its history, the doings of its conventions, its laws 
and canons, without perceiving that in every act its aim has 
been to crush human liberty, under pretext of piety, and to 
found a tyrannical despotism civil and religious." 

There is a political party, recently organized, called the " Know-Nothings" — 
composed chiefly of native-born American citizens : what are your impressions 
concerning it 1 

The paramount and governing principle, or policy, of this 
party, is, opposition to all foreign influence — directed princi- 
pally against the Irish and Roman Catholics. It refuses to them 
the right to hold public positions as officers, or to make laws 
for the American people. Now, I am fully aware that the 
Papal power in America is daily developing into prodigious 

20 



306 QUESTIONS ON THE BENEFITS 

strength. And many political papers encourage the spread of 
this power by securing, or endeavoring to secure, the votes of 
the Irish population. The Whigs and Democrats, the Hards 
and Softs, the Doughfaces and Emptyheads, and other appro- 
priately-named parties, studiously avoid every word that could 
be construed into opposition to Koman Catholicity — because, 
simply, the Irish vote is very important to the election of fa- 
vorite candidates. I am also aware that the genius of the 
Catholic system, its real animus, is politically and ecclesiasti- 
cally despotic. It is Institutionalism against Individualism. 
And yet, notwithstanding all this and much more, still worse, 
I could not consent to become a Know-Nothing. Why not ? 
Because I can not oppose error with error. Native American- 
ism is a home despotism organized to put down a foreign des- 
potism. It is, therefore, force, and prejudice, and tyranny, 
against tyranny, and prejudice, and force. Liberty, on the 
contrary, can prosper only by Liberty. If Native influence 
puts down Catholic influence by force, and if the American 
character is made to endorse it, who can tell when another 
party will not arise to put down the Harmonial Philosophy ? 
In a country where the Principle of Liberty is not fully admit- 
ted and proclaimed, I feel insecure — yea, uncertain of the 
Rights of my Individualism. But you ask — 

Do you not look at the consequences — the results of the spread and suprem- 
acy of Papal power in America ? 

With the question of consequences I have nothing to do — 
only with the Principle. Results can not be wrong when Right 
is pursued. The same political spirit that would persecute and 
prostrate Catholics in this country, might , in the next fifteen years, 
persecute and prostrate Harmonial Philosophers. How so ? Be- 
cause, although Roman Catholics and Harmonial Philosophers 
are absolutely opposite to each other in most questions, yet do 
they harmonize in their opposition to the Protestant systems 
of religious quackery ; and they also agree to make the charge 
that American politics are fearfully destitute of the principles 
of distributive Justice and universal Liberty 

What plan would you suggest whereby to prevent political and religious des- 
potism ? 

The only certain plan whereby to prevent the establishment 



AND PENALTIES OF INSTITUTIONALISM. 307 

of political and ecclesiastical despotism, is this : a universal 
education of our people to revere and to practise the principles 
of Absolute Individual Liberty. All faith in a miraculous, ar- 
bitrary, despotic Revelation, must be carefully removed, and 
placed upon Father-God and Mother-Nature. The inner Light, 
the religion of Justice in the soul of each, must become the 
rule of faith and practice. American Theology and Roman 
Catholicity would then die — never to breathe again, never to 
know a resurrection ! 

According to your definition, what is an Institution ? 

An Institution, according to our best definition, is an estab- 
lishment appointed, prescribed, and founded, by authority — 
intended to be permanent. Thus, we speak of the established 
institutions of Moses or Lycurgus, or the laws of the Medes 
and Persians. The popular idea of an Institution is, an organ- 
ized society, established by law, or by the authority of indi- 
viduals, for the promotion of any given object, social, political, 
or religious. Hence, it can not but be seen that an Institution 
is somewhat like the Chinese Wall — -a stupendous and system- 
atic effort to keep individuals permanently within or without. 
The Individual is never encouraged to grow and expand, save 
to the circumference of the circle. There he must stop, or be 
called a conspirator, a rebel, and — take the penalties. 

Will you point to some examples of institutional wrong ? 

Examples are too numerous. It was an Institution, under 
the direction of Herod the Great, which caused the slaughter 
of four thousand children within the precincts of Bethlehem. 
It was an Institution that presented and accomplished the dia- 
bolical deeds of cruelty termed the " Massacre of St. Barthol- 
omew," when in one day more than forty-five thousand per- 
sons were slain in Paris and the provinces of France. Do 
you wonder still that I refused to prefix the word " saint" to 
the name of Thomas Paine ? It was an Institution that estab- 
lished " the office of the Holy Inquisition," for the systematic 
extirpation of infidels, Jews, and other heretics. It was au- 
thorized by the Roman power, and put in practical operation 
in Italy, Spain, and Portugal. The indescribable tortures of 
the victims of that Holy ( ! ) Institution — their piteous cries 



308 QUESTIONS ON THE BENEFITS 

for help — come to us even imto this day, laden with admo- 
nitions — with portentous warnings — saying: "We beseech 
you, see to it, that you arise in wisdom against the despo- 
tism of Institutions !" It was an Institution that crucified the 
loving Nazarene. All Wars are outbirths of Institutions. 
Slavery of every description — social, political, religious — re- 
sults from Institutions. There is a " peculiar Institution," 
consolidated into adamantine strength, under the heavens of 
the sunny South. There the sable brother has no right to his 
body, no right to his soul : his wife, his little ones, his sisters 
and brothers — all, belong to the Institution. And this Insti- 
tution is the property of the few, who, owing to the mere acci- 
dent of birth, carry the purse, and therefore the power. What 
an unutterable misfortune it is to be born within the precincts 
of such a political and spiritual pestilence ! 

What may be said of Russian Institutionalism ? 

It was an Institution which, amid millions of human beings, 
selected the Czar of Russia to act the part of Despot. The Mus- 
covite Autocrat is himself an Individual. His moral organization, 
nevertheless, is fashioned by his circumstances. His concep- 
tions of justice are huge and arbitrary ; not fine, and springing 
from an idea of universal distribution of rights. An Emperor's 
tertiary character is cynical in some particulars. He sees no 
really good thing in man ; because, owing to his usurpations, 
the openly or secretly bad is everywhere manifested. He is 
not certain of anything human ; yet he treats his immediate 
associates with great respect. 

Is the Russian Emperor inclined to religion ? 

Almost every Russian despot has been actuated by a pecu- 
liar reverence for the sacred institutions of God. He thinks 
the Greek Church to be the especial emporium of the designs 
of Deity. In this particular, the Despot is as conscientious 
and superstitious, too, as any orthodox clergyman in the United 
States. For he is fully " persuaded in his own mind" that he 
is doing God a genuine service, even when he entraps and sub- 
jugates other nations, to provide the Church with rich and nu- 
merous adherents. He considers himself as much an " agent" 
for the Almighty as any New-England teacher of the faith once 



AND PENALTIES OF INSTITUTIONALISE!. 309 

delivered to the Saints. He firmly and conscientiously believes 
that he has a " mission" to fulfil. It is right and essential to 
order, in his opinion, that he should place himself at the head 
of Church and State. 

Do Emperors usually possess strong heroic feelings ? 

The Russian ruler's love of country is strong, but his national 
pride is weaker far than his pride of power. His hereditary 
and acquired characters compel him to be a worshipper of 
power. In this respect, an Institutional Autocrat is morbidly 
ambitious. He prays to extend his dominions, his power and 
government. He studies hard to out-general the world. His 
firmness in this direction is unwavering and indomitable. He 
thinks strongly, steadily, indignantly. He can not consent to 
be weak enough to pardon^ an enemy ; his love of power makes 
him unforgiving. His moral organization is so constituted, 
that suspicion of human nature is inevitable. He is enough 
superstitious to believe himself the spiritual and legal head of 
a God-made Institution : his nature, therefore, is unable to form 
a clear and steady belief in the intrinsic goodness of any Indi- 
vidual. This silent conviction — I might say skepticism — 
tends to render him cruel, despotic, absolute. To his acquired 
character, it sometimes seems that — 

" Deception is the warp and thread of being ; 
The sky is fickle, and the elements 
Are traitors all. The spider plots his living 
In deceit ; and in the air, the kingly birds 
With cruel art on weaker ones descend, 
And gorge their appetite. The beasts and fish, 
Who have some lordly sway, turn land and sea 
Into a stage for drama treacherous, 
Whose plot the Almighty laid. Therefore do I 
Stand up in Nature's centre, and my foot feels 
Her heart beat, while I scheme." 

When I view an Emperor altogether, with all his character- 
istics taken in combination, I see a man who is an instrument, 
or circumstance, in the hands of confederated diplomatists. 
Everything is done over his shoulder. 

What effect does this produce upon him 1 

This flatters his love of power, and gives him a reputation 



310 QUESTIONS ON THE BENEFITS 

for great skill and courage, which he seldom really works to 
earn : hence, as an individual, he enjoys the position he occu- 
pies extremely well. The present Emperor's father, Nicholas, 
had so much pride in the sagacity and diplomacy of his public 
officers and chief nobles, that he affirmed them to be superior 
to the most civilized nations whom he spurned to copy or imi- 
tate in any particular. From strangers the Emperor would 
consent to learn or borrow seldom. There is something anom- 
alous in the character of this Emperor. He is master — he 
knows it — all acknowledge it in his nation; but he never 
claims such absolute prerogative or control. Church and State 
are both beneath his governmental regulations. He makes the 
ecclesiastical patriarchs and bishops swear unequivocal allegi- 
ance and obedience to himself; yet, when meeting the higher 
clergy in public, he devoutly kisses the archbishop's hands, and 
displays other evidences of religious reverence and submission. 
With the populace this policy operates like magic. They be- 
hold the agents of God, organized and maintained at incalcu- 
lable expense and ceremony, for the sake of the people. To all 
outward seeming, the Emperor aspires to be a conscientious 
Christian, a devout priest, a careful king — a despot from the 
force of religious necessity — a chief ruler among the nations. 

What seems to be the religious belief of the Russian Emperor ? 

The Emperor is moved by the conviction that he is designed 
by God to spread the Muscovite government over territories 
of the heathen. Russia is moved by its chief toward the East. 
The idea of Heaven's decree — a religious duty, a sacred mis- 
sion — acts upon him and his chief officers and ministers as 
powerfully as ever a superstition influenced any mind. " East- 
ern powers must become Russian !" This is the watchword. 
The Emperor is fully convinced that there can be no permanent 
power in a country where the people are permitted to act out 
their depraved private wills. He feels that Pope and King 
should exist only in one man, as religion and intellect meet in 
one organization. Actuated by his acquired skepticism in re- 
gard to the tendencies of human nature, he watches this focal 
concentration of ecclesiastical and political power as jealously 
as did Othello the virtue of Desdemona. And you can not 



AND PENALTIES OF INSTITUTION ALISM. 311 

persuade him, with his intellectual and moral organism, out of 
the idea that he should make war upon heathen nations, and 
convert them and their possessions to the saving ordinances 
and government of the Greek Church. He would be somewhat 
skilful in managing a conquest — bold, combative, courageous, 
hopeful, firm, and ambitious of power — and being, withal, so 
religious in his wars, though employing other motives as pre- 
texts, you may be sure that he will spring his plans when and 
where they are least expected. 

What effect does Kussian Institutionalism exert upon the inhabitants 1 

Under the institutionalism of Russia, I can see no escape for 
the serfs. The Russian ministers, I think, are more fond of 
triumph and subjugation than the Emperor himself. They do 
much toward bringing about pretexts for making war upon the 
East ; and the Czar gets all the praise and condemnation. He 
is master ; his will is supreme. But his will coincides with 
the legislation or suggestion of his chief nobles and public offi- 
cials ; and yet it must be seen that the Emperor's own peculiar 
mind acts clearly enough in coloring and shaping all plans and 
decrees. He is a victim as well as King ; a subject as well as 
Emperor. The nobles, as a class, are excessively proud. The 
serfs, as a class, are exceeding submissive. The Czar, as a 
man, is ambitious. All are superstitious, and actuated and 
bound together by absurd religious convictions. And there is 
no greater civilization possible in Russia — no more freedom to 
be expected in the empire of Nicholas — until Individualism is 
recognised, and some valuable education is bestowed upon the 
ignorant and stultified peasantry. 

What is the heading of every despotic institution ? 

The programme of every despotic institution is headed with 
— " Believe, or be damned !" And the head and front of our 
offending is, a personal remonstrance. But how difficult to 
swim against the tides of popularity ! The waves dash furi- 
ously against and roll over you. You must have a confidence 
in the Truth — else you will sink beneath the surface of Insti- 
tutions, and become food for reptiles that crawl on their blood- 
stained foundations. 



312 QUESTIONS ON THE BENEFITS 

" Once we thought that Kings were holy, 

Doing wrong by right divine; 
That the Church was lord of conscience — 

Arbiter of mine and thine ; 
That whatever priests commanded, 

No one could reject, and live ; 
And that all who differed from them 

It was error to forgive I" — 

But now we declare ourselves a " free and independent" race 
of Brothers — each a law unto himself. Institutions shall 
not for ever bind us : and, when we say this, we speak for the 
oppressed African, the Italian, the Hungarian, the Russian 
serf — we speak for all the Nations ! 

Can you illustrate the influence of institutions upon character ? 

I have already done so. You probably remember a certain 
son of Erin who opposed the rigid Institutions of England, and 
yet advocated American Slavery. The freemen of the North 
were astonished. At home, he was the friend of Liberty ; 
here, the supporter of Slavery. At home, he denounced the 
Institutions ; hence, the Institutions deprived him of individual 
liberty. Here, a fugitive from British tyranny, he puts up a 
voice in favor of slavery. It were better had he remained the 
friend of Freedom. The North could not easily bear the sting 
which he added to its smarting, burning, twinging, black Can- 
cer, in the South. And so it was that men condemned John 
Mitchel. Because of his apostacy, they wrote to render him 

infamous. But let us not forget that, from his early youth* 

yea, by hereditary descent and generative blood — he was a 
victim of Institutionalism. Perhaps, real Liberty he had not 
known — still feels not. Nevertheless, he manfully rebelled 
against certain political restrictions. But the grandeur of In- 
dividualism he could not, perhaps can not, realize. Therefore, 
while I fraternize with and compassionate John Mitchel, I all 
the more repudiate the Institutions of which he has been, and 
still is, a victim. 

"Once we thougbt that sacred Freedom 
Was a cursed and tainted thing — 
Foe of peace, and law, and virtue, 
Foe of magistrate and King ; 



AND PENALTIES OF INSTITUTIONALISE!. 313 

That the vile and rampant passion 

Ever followed in her path — 
Lust and Plunder, War and Rapine, 

Tears, and Anarchy, and Wrath I" — 

But now we think that true individual freedom will for ever 
prevent all these evils. While Liberty is the " foe of magis- 
trate and King," it is not less the friend of " peace and vir- 
tue ;" and elevates — by its benign influence, so attractive and 
so strong — each of our common race. The Tyrants of the 
Old World still regard our Republic as an experiment. They 
prophesy that the people will one day overthrow the founda- 
tions of our government. But we are Progressive ! That ex- 
plains enough. We go from alteration to improvement ; we 
wound, only to heal. Hence, with every American revolution 
comes development. An earthquake would result in better 
geographical conditions — in better atmospheric combinations. 
Let a people practically believe in Progression, and they will 
ascend from bad to better, " from evil educing good," as upon 
the rounds of a ladder. 

But is there not a philosophy in Government ? 

Governments procreate and reproduce themselves ; they come 
in the natural course of. things. The first human government 
was like an acorn. When it was planted, out of human neces- 
sity, then began the historical series of Institutions which have 
marked the pathway of mankind. The last shall be as the 
first in quality, but infinitely superior in degree : even so every 
acorn reproduces its kind, and progresses by means of multi- 
plication. 

What was the first form of government 1 

The first government was Anarchy ; that is, no government 
at all. This was the germ. The last will be even so — with 
this difference, that each individual at first was actuated by 
his passions ; at last, each will move by the light of Reason. 
At first, each considered might as right; at last, each will 
esteem right as might. At first, the people worshipped the 
god of Wealth and Power ; at last, they will venerate the god 
of Love and Wisdom. But the Individualism of Mankind will 
at last stand out even more absolutely against Institutions than 



314 QUESTIONS ON THE BENEFITS 

at first. The Anarchy of the first days was Confusion ; the 
Anarchy of the last days will be Harmony. The first form of 
government, being anarchical, forced every person to rely 
upon his own centre of strength. But the soul was then un- 
able to practise Individualism upon a higher plane. Not Love, 
but Force, was manifested. The strong began to oppress the 
weak. Innumerable troubles arose among neighboring tribes ; 
and so, from the bosom of Necessity, came another form of 
government. 

What was the second form of government ? 

The second form was Patriarchal. Now, each tribe had its 
own Father, who was arbiter and absolute governor. But this 
form gradually changed into Theocracy. 

"What is a theocratic government 1 

A Theocracy means the government of a people by the sup- 
posed immediate direction of God. The Israelites furnish an 
example. The priest, however, really had everything his own 
way. He had but to say, "Thus saith the Lord" — and his 
commands, good or evil, were unhesitatingly obeyed. 

What is the fourth form of government ? 

The fourth form is Monarchy. Monarchy is a government 
in which the supreme power is lodged in the hands of a single 
person. 

What is the fifth form of government ? 

The fifth form is Republicanism. This is a form of govern- 
ment in which majorities rule. The sovereign power is lodged 
by the people in their representatives. 

What is the sixth form of government ? 

The sixth form is Democracy. I am led to affirm that a 
real democratic form of government has never as yet been de- 
veloped on earth. The government of Athens, in Greece, was 
an approach to it. Democracy is an institution in which the 
supreme power is lodged in the hands of the people. America 
is not a Democracy : it is Republican. Republicanism invests 
representatives with all the power of legislation : Democracy, 
on the other hand, is the power of the people to legislate for 
themselves. We aspire after a Democratic form of govern- 
ment. It is superior to Republicanism. It will secure the 



AND PENALTIES OF INSTITUTION ALISM. 315 

rights of "Workingmen ; the rights of Free-laborers ; the rights 
of the Slave ; the rights of Woman ; the rights of Children. 
But even this form of government is too formal for Humanity. 
The last shall be as the first. The Anarchy of the first must 
come out at last in the Individualism of refined and civilized 
man. Hence, Progressives as we are, we declare ourselves 
openly in favor of no government. The people are governed 
too much. They will rebel. They will gradually become un- 
governable. They will demand at each other's hands absolute, 
supreme individual sovereignty — which Patriarchalism, which 
Theocracy, which Monarchy, grants unreservedly to Fathers, 
to Kings, to Emperors, to Popes, to Tyrants. 

What will be the seventh form of government 1 

The seventh form will be Autocracy. An Autocratic form 
of government is that in which a ruler, a sovereign, holds and 
exercises the powers of regulation by inherent right — subject 
to no restriction. This is perfect Individualism ! — indepen- 
dent or absolute power of self-government ; supreme, uncon- 
trolled, unlimited right of governing in a single person. Yes, 
each person will become an Autocrat. And each Autocrat 
will be a power, exercising equal justice, on principles set 
forth in the twelve commandments. 

Do you realize how this doctrine seems to a timid conservative 1 

Yes ; I am well aware that, to a timid conservative, and to 
those who breathe in the atmosphere of Institutionalism, all 
this bears the impress of Original Anarchy. They fear that 
Confusion will be worse confounded. Such minds would urge 
me to " beware of extreme radicalism." They would preach 
against Individualism, as Tyrants protest against Republican- 
ism. But I tell you that Individualism will eventually develop 
out of Democracy — just as Republicanism was developed out 
of Monarchy — naturally, as blooming Summer comes out of 
rigid Winter. 

But suppose the American Union were dissolved % 

There is to-day no obvious ground upon which to rest such 
a supposition ; and we will not spend our time in useless argu- 
mentation. Yet grant, for a moment, your supposition. What 



816 QUESTIONS ON THE BENEFITS 

would be the result ? My reply is, an immediate reorganiza- 
tion, with a no better Constitution. 

How do you know this ? 

From the fact that neither the character nor the soul of the 
American people has outgrown the form of its present Institu- 
tion. If a farmer should attempt to destroy poisonous weeds 
by cutting off their leaves — the roots still remaining firm in 
the earth — his efforts would result in disclosing to himself his 
own ignorance. The weeds would grow all the more abun- 
dantly. That is to say, our government is based upon an idea 
of justice. But this idea is found to be imperfect. Notwith- 
standing which, the government will remain strong, unshaken, 
unaltered, until the soul of this Nation outgrows its political 
fundamentals. When a higher idea of justice gets into the 
American people, then, and only then, will the Union decom- 
pose like a dead body : then, too, will the newer, the greater, and 
the juster soul, be clothed upon with a newer, a greater, and a 
juster Constitution. All this oratorical flourish about the dis- 
solution of our Union is useful, because it moves the people, 
and compels many to look into the philosophy of government. 

What good can you accomplish by teaching the doctrine of Individualism ? 

If I teach the doctrine of Autocracy — if I urge you to ac- 
cept and live out the principles of Individualism — I do some- 
thing toward elevating, and expanding, and universalizing the 
Soul of the American people ; something, also, toward hasten- 
ing the national decomposition of arbitrary forms of Institu- 
tionalism, as well as all phases of bondage and slavery. Most 
explicitly, however, I acknowledge a certain transitional good 
in Institutions. Although it is true that they have long op- 
posed the growth of Humanity — have always said, " Believe, 
or be damned !" — yet, let us recall the principle that all pen- 
alties are benefits. The crushed rose emits a sweeter fragrance : 
even so is obstructed and arrested Liberty gaining strength 
and righteousness. There is a Father-God in the constitution 
of Mother-Nature, who bringeth good out of seeming evil — 
harmony from discord — so positively and surely, that even 
war is at last to benefit Humanity. 



AND PENALTIES OP INSTITUTIONALISE!. 317 

Can Individualism exist independently of all Association 1 

No ; there is a degree of Institution alism which is natural to 
man, in all stages of growth, and absolutely necessary to that 
growth — viz., the Institution of The Great Harmonium, based 
upon the law of Spiritual Attraction ; having no bond of union 
except the Affinity of Love and the Unanimity of Wisdom. 
Popular Institutions are made from outside influences — sup- 
ported by legal enactments — infringing upon the liberties of 
large minorities. Humanitarian institutions, on the contrary, 
will resemble solar bodies — each revolving in its own orbit — 
at once an honor to Father-God and a happiness to all men. 
Benevolent, Attractive, Industrial, and Educational Associa- 
tions, are, on this principle, desirable as transitional means of 
Individual development. Man was not made for forms, remem- 
ber ; but forms for man. 

" The veriest coward upon earth 

Is he who fears the world's opinion — 
Who acts with reference to its will, 
His conscience swayed by its dominion. 

" Mind is not worth a feather's weight 

That must with other minds be measured ; 
Self must direct, and self control, 
And the account in heaven be treasured. 

"Fear never sways a manly soul — 

For honest hearts 'twas ne'er intended: 
They, only they, have cause to fear, 
Whose motives have their God offended. 

" ' What will my neighbor say if I 

Should this attempt, or that, or t' other V 
A neighbor is most sure a foe 
If he prove not a helping brother. 

" That man is brave who braves the world, 
When o'er Life's sea his bark he steereth; 
Who keeps that guiding star in view — 
A conscience clear, which never veereth." 



A PSYCHOMETPJCAL EXAMINATION OP 

WILLIAM LLOYD GARRISON, 



For the world's sake, I propose to devote a few hours to the 
psychometrical examination of a certain notorious and cele- 
brated character. Moved by this self-made proposition — 
coupled with a special desire to investigate for myself the in- 
trinsic nature of the gentleman — I yesterday procured a loci? 
of hair from the head of William Lloyd Garrison, the well- 
known editor of the " Liberator," a weekly paper devoted to 
the advocacy of unconditional freedom, with this motto — " Our 
Country is the World, our Countrymen are All Mankind" — 
published every Friday morning, in Boston, Massachusetts. 
With this hair I expect to throw my mind so clearly into clair- 
voyance, that,, to examine this public man — to see him just as 
he is, and not as he or others may think he is — will be com- 
paratively an easy matter. Of course there is sufficient skep- 
ticism, respecting this power to discern human character, to 
give both the friends and foes of this gentleman " the benefit 
of the doubt." 

As yet, I have had no real opportunity to obtain a correct 
external knowledge of this indestructible Garrison.* I have 
met an$ passed friendly words with him on several occasions ; 
but nothing has ever occurred, in any of these interviews, to 

* This examination was made two years ago ; since which I have spent several 
useful hours in his presence. 



320 A PSYCHOMETRICAL EXAMINATION 

let me into the "real reality" of his constitution. With the 
public estimate of his character I am familiar. I have heard 
and read opinions of him at which my soul revolted ; which 
caused me to wish never to meet with so wicked a man. 

His friends have never given me any description of him. 
The only definite thing I ever received from any one respecting 
him was said to me by a very ardent friend of his, in these 
words ; "I want you to know Garrison ; I think you will like 
him ; and I want him to know you." Now, in my opinion, the 
quickest way for me to arrive at this desirable knowledge, is 
to make an examination of his primary, secondary, and ter- 
tiary characteristics in the manner proposed ; and, as he is to 
some extent, the property of the people, I will make my im- 
pressions publicly known as fast as I obtain them. I propose 
to investigate him objectively, socially, intellectually, morally, 
and as an individual, in relation to the world. Let us now 
proceed. The following were my 

Impressions when vieiving him objectively. His physical 
system is evenly balanced and well developed ; it is neither 
too large nor too small ; sufficiently full of strong, elastic, en- 
during, muscular fibre, associated with a nervous organization, 
which is naturally steady and firm, but very sensitive. His 
brain is composed of fine material, remarkably active and bril- 
liant ; giving, as whole, an organism very capable of withstand- 
ing the insidious operations of disease, the force of atmospheri- 
cal changes ; and will sustain for a long time, a vast quantity of 
carefully-graduated corporeal and mental labor. His personal 
presence has breadth, chastity, and manliness. When he 
walks, there goes a man with an object before him ; with some- 
thing ahead to be accomplished. When he stands in conver- 
sation, his manner is upright and downright ; he is constitution- 
ally graceful, precise, emphatic, earnest. When*he teaches 
before an audience, there stands the same man with the same 
manners : you see him gesturing, without impetuosity, with his 
right arm, as if hammering his thoughts into the mental fabric 
of the people. His countenance is strikingly indicative of 
straightforward, unchangeable earnestness ; shows an attach- 
ment to whatever is inherent, vital, genuine, glorious ; to 



OF WILLIAM LLOYD GARRISON". 321 

nothing unmanly or superficial. His mouth is indicative of 
kind feelings and moderate mirth ; with a slight curve at either 
corner, signifying a tendency toward rebuking criticism. His 
eye is generous, serious, penetrative, thoughtful ; it looks at 
and reads you, then turns playfully aside, as if nothing had 
occurred ; while the mouth is earnestly but familiarly engaged 
in conversation with you or others. He appears like a person 
who is fond of personal refinements and quietude ; fond of all 
the outward temperate comforts furnished by a rational civili- 
zation. With the superior portions of his head completely 
divested of hair — not from age, but through hereditary causes; 
with his somewhat prominent and well-defined features — 
though not sharp, irregular, or unbeautiful ; with his face and 
neck carefully shaven and deprived thus of what was by na- 
ture designed as a useful ornament and the peculiar superscrip- 
tion of a man ; with a simple cravat nicely adjusted ; with gold 
spectacles, sitting with dignity before his expressive eyes ; 
with his person neatly clad in a suit of black — and, with his 
manly form and becoming stature — there is a " certain some- 
thing" about this William Lloyd Garrison, in his external ap- 
pearance and unsuperficial department, whether standing or 
reposing, which positively attracts your attention and unequivo- 
cally challenges your respects. The following were my 

Impressions ivhen viewing him socially. In his family and 
among his friends he is peculiarly domestic and social. His 
love for wife and children is steady, truthful, heartfelt ; but it 
is not sufficiently powerful to urge him a hair's-breadth from 
what he conceives to be the path of Right, in his relation to 
the brotherhood of man. Home has a genial — not a mould- 
ing — influence, upon his affections and disposition. He enjoys 
the idea of having a " local habitation" of his own ; yet, the 
love of locality is temperate, and gains no real mastery over 
his higher attractions and purposes. He is far more playful 
with adults than children — more mental than physical, in 
either case ; is never reserved or saturnine in company ; and, 
although inclined to satire and irony, is seldom betrayed into 
their use in common conversation ; but leans easily to a jest, 
or pun, and is (or may be) quick and fortunate at repartee. 

21 



322 A PSYCHOMETKICAL EXAMINATION 

His private character is remarkable for its uniformity and 
simplicity ; the artlessness and spontaneity of the child are in- 
variably manifest ; and through these winning attributes the 
strong, indomitable characteristics of a Man shine brilliantly 
forth upon his companions. The continuity of his social na- 
ture is likewise very remarkable ; before wife and children, 
before friends and enemies, he is ever the same person. He is 
a stranger to " dignified or contemptuous silence," and not 
less to all feelings of a supercilious or exclusive nature. No 
one's opinions, no one's experiences, no one's ideas, no one's 
concerns, are without interest to him ; and he will, when not 
engaged in elaborating or completing a thought then agitating 
his own mind, listen to the tale of the most humble and illit- 
erate. To his friends he is warm and confiding ; to his ene- 
mies he is frank and honorable ; to both he will earnestly ex- 
press his opposition to their errors, thinking of neither their 
approbation nor displeasure, when a principle is under debate ; 
and yet he has quite a strong love of praise, and has no dis- 
position, per se, to wound the feelings of any man. The fol- 
lowing were my 

Impressions when viewing him intellectually. His is a high 
order of intellect, but not the highest. It is more than usu- 
ally well arranged and evenly balanced ; superior, in this par- 
ticular, to most public and literary men. It looks like a house 
put in order. The furniture is well chosen, and seems, with- 
out irrelevant ornament or useless display, most admirably 
adapted to the size and architecture of the dwelling. In his 
mind there are no useless materials. Each thought and every 
experience is made to subserve some present contingency 
and immediate purpose. This intellect is not diffusive and 
nebulous ; it is a compact, transparent unit — a oneness. He 
does not reason very frequently from cause to effect — interiorly 
and analytically ; but mostly from inward prompting, with ex- 
ternal observation and a critical comparison of statistics, his- 
torical events, general circumstances, and contiguous or present 
facts. He is, therefore, a surface and transparent reasoner ; 
and this enables him to render his ideas definitely to the peo- 
ple. He seldom reasons deep enough to reach the metaphysi- 



OF WILLIAM LLOYD GARRISON. 323 

cal and imaginative functions of the human mind. He is 
honest, and always out and out. Yet, he possesses the requi- 
site mental power to dive beneath the surface, and searchingly 
too, if he should especially desire to do so. 

When occasion challenges him, he can construct a logical, 
broad, manly, and tremendous argument. He is very vigilant, 
and guards his fundamental positions or outposts, like an ac- 
customed warrior. Without oratorical embellishments or po- 
etic flights, always compact and well joined, loaded to the brim 
with cannon-balls calculated to do the execution designed, his 
argumentations are clear and addressed to the highest as well 
as the most practical faculties of the human mind. And 
being consciously endowed with ever-available powers of in- 
tellect, capable of grasping great themes, he experiences no 
mental reserve or trepidation. 

Memory of words and ideas is remarkably good. His rec- 
ollection of music is not so perfect as of the sentiment ; the 
former is remembered through the later by association. He is 
fond of poems with generous and universal themes ; ordinary 
versification on sentimentalities is exceedingly distasteful. 
To him classic literature is replete with attractions ; his liter- 
ary tastes and powers are keen and pungent ; he writes his 
ideas with pecular distinctness ; and is disposed to be hyper- 
critical, and captious even, in his own use of terms. In re- 
spect to the choice of words, he is naturally guarded and in- 
tellectually conscientious ; they must signify literally what he 
thinks, or what others think, and nothing more. He is quick 
at discerning flaws in arguments ; the premises and conclusions 
are mathematically adjusted in his mind ; and there can be no 
mistake or alteration in positions he thus assumes, i. e. in his 
honest opinion. Yet, he is ever willing to investigate those 
assumptions afresh, and takes new views of them, when his 
judgment is convinced. Although disposed to irony, he seldom 
thinks or writes under its influence ; and though no less disposed 
to sarcasm, he tempers his didactic thoughts and exegetical 
language with benevolence and a kind of imperious suavity. 
There is a nobility in this intelligence. It is strong, energetic, 
active, sensitive, cultivated, available, and self-sustaining. His 



324 A PSYCHOMETRIC AL EXAMINATION 

intellectual integrity — that is, his self-justice in thinking or 
reasoning on any theme — is very extraordinary and peculiar 
to himself. His words are naturally not numerous, but by 
development and necessity, they flow out without much inter- 
ruption ; and with a conscientious precision. The following 
were my 

Impressions ivhen viewing him morally. Some minds arc 
receptacles only ; this is a source. Some are goblets and 
pitchers ready to receive and entertain ; this is a fountain. In 
the moral department of this mind, I feel more at home. His 
love of justice as a principle, per se, is sensitive, intense, 
powerful. I feel an imperial right to examine the relations 
between man and man. Enthroned above all other thoughts 
and deeper than all other sentiments, are — God, Justice, 
Liberty. These standing and ruling thoughts never sleep : 
neither do they dream. The whole mind is moved from centre 
to circumference by them, as a world by the attractive laws of 
gravitation ; they not only influence, but they mould, and give 
shape to all the elements of his hereditary and acquired char- 
acter. Actuated and energized by these sovereign sentiments, 
he feels a severe indignation — a species of outrage committed 
upon his own soul — at the injustice done to the liberties of a 
fellow-being. His justice is severe and somewhat arbitrary ; 
fortunately, it is pleasingly tempered by benevolence. But 
for this, he would be a second John Calvin — a person of an 
indomitable will — with a persecuting disposition. But with 
God, Justice, and Liberty, so supreme to all personal or sel- 
fish sentiments — so paramount to all other thoughts and at- 
tractions — this mind esteems everything of a temporal or 
prudential nature as unimportant, and, to some extent, as 
wholly beneath his consideration, when compared with the 
universal adoption and practical application of these princi- 
ples. Home, friends, health, reputation, fortune, and even 
existence itself — though these are dear and genial to his na- 
ture — are considered secondary to the enthronement of God, 
Justice, and Liberty, in the constitution of men and society. 

.When I let myself unrestrainedly into the inmost recesses 
of his character, I feel like speaking to a great audience upon 



OF WILLIAM LLOYD GARRISON. 325 

a great theme. The occasion is full of interest. I wish to 
see the people excited and deeply incensed against some gigan- 
tic wrong ; willing to go to the rack or stake for the Truth's 
sake. I would willingly be burned to have the Idea — the in- 
herent, vital, glorious, divine Principle I advocate — survive 
me, and be accepted into the consciousness of my fellow-man. 
I must speak, great, earnest, manly, burning words. My soul 
must be felt. My theme thoroughly appreciated. If not, then 
I must away. But the mob must be addressed. Before and 
to the face of each man I must rebuke the wrong-thinking, the 
wrong-saying, the wrong-doing. Courage, hope, faith — the 
divine sense and strength of Right — possesses my whole soul. 
I feel like .quoting passages of expressive, emphatic, hopeful, 
courageous poetry — I feel like using certain verses from the 
Old and New Testaments — to explain my inward, but far more 
authoritative, convictions. I must pay no deference to an 
opinion or institution which has only the prestige of antiquity 
to recommend it. If it suits not my conscience — my intel- 
lectual perception of the logical and absolute relations between 
premise and conclusion — then I must hesitate not to speak 
against it. But I must not confound my subjects. Where 1 
speak, there all can speak — my platform is free as Truth makes 
free — which freedom and my honor are inseparable. 

Thus, do I feel when I let my mind into the ruling emotions 
of William Lloyd Garrison. 

His Cautiousness is large and very active, but his religious 
feelings, being so superior to selfishness of any ordinary kind, 
enables him to feel no fear. Hope, confidence in self, and 
courage, are large and active. He is self-supporting; and 
desires to lean on no man for anything. This mind and its 
subjects are one and indissoluble. He realizes no difference 
or distinction between itself and its principles — his life, soul, 
intellect, and they, are one ; belong to each other. Hence this 
Garrison can not think of policies, prudentialisms, compromises, 
and middle positions ; for nature can not be faithless to itself. 
His love of Father-God is powerful. He has a good apprecia- 
tion of human nature. He is spiritually minded and intui- 
tional ; loves to pray in a practical manner, in the secret closet 



326 A PSYCHOMETRIC AL EXAMINATION 

of his own heart ; he believes in, and aspires toward divine 
principles, subjects, and personages. His mind has constitu- 
tional or vital concentrativeness — an adhesiveness and in- 
tegrity to its own positions, motives, and purposes — which 
does not come from firmness or voluntary willingness to be 
steadfast. He can not be otherwise. In this particular his 
mind is extraordinarily organized. It would be phrenologically 
supposed that his " Firmness" is large enough to give rise to 
stubbornness and dogmatic obstinacy ; which is not true. His 
is the firmness and stability of the oak ; the integrity of nature 
to itself. It would also be supposed, phrenologically, that his 
" Conibativeness" is large enough to lead him to destructive 
extremes ; which is not true. His energy and dauntless cour- 
age come wholly from his religious and strong-feeling con- 
science, which, ignoring all creeds and constitutions, worships 
at the shrine of God, Justice, Liberty. 

He is jealous of honor. His sensitive and energetic con- 
science constrains him to discover Wrong and to condemn it, 
in the most practical or forcible terms, whether that wrong be 
manifested by rich or poor, church or state, friend or foe. 
Having no respect for middle positions or compromises, he can 
not, under any temptations or circumstances, " make friends 
with the mammon of unrighteousness ;" and his out-spoken 
denunciations of Wrong would be very likely to give offence to 
opposite characters. 

His conscience puts him wholly out of harmony with domi- 
nant institutions and constitutions. He finds the most unpop- 
ular side of almost every question endorsed by the best con- 
sciences, nearest to truth (or likely to be), and therefore more 
attractive and congenial to him than the common side which 
every grade of mankind accepts. That abuse which he may 
receive from the popular conscience, is esteemed by him as com- 
plimentary. To be approbated by the majority would startle 
him exceedingly, with the conviction that he could not be in 
the Right, for Right is unpopular ! He takes side with the 
abused, despitefully treated, and persecuted ; because his be- 
nevolence urges him to do so, while conscience compels to the 
work. 



OF WILLIAM LLOYD GARRISON. 327 

Mr. Garrison has no ambition to be either conspicuous be- 
fore the world, or martyrized for the glory of principles — he 
would like it if it were otherwise — but he counts everything 
of his own as naught, as forming no welcome part of his ex- 
istence and happiness, which is obtained at the sacrifice of hu- 
man rights and liberties. His constitutional dignity is so 
strong, his estimate of personal honor so high and noble, that 
he can not allow himself to descend to the plane of evil-doers 
— can not condescend to return evil for evil — can not consent 
to do evil, however slight, that good may come ; therefore he 
is, from the inmost principles of his character, a Non-resis- 
tant. Yet, he will explain, resist, and denounce what he sees 
to be Wrong. He believes only in the opposition of arguments 
— in the resistance of a peaceful and manful spirituality — to 
the evils and wrongs of humankind. No war, no cruelty, no ar- 
bitrary punishment ; no unequal distribution of liberties among 
the people. All manner of faithlessness or hypocrisy are to 
his mind unutterably detestable ; so much so that they incline 
him toward the boldness and exemplification of the opposite 
extreme. 

No man appeals more magnanimously to the high moral and 
manly feelings of the human mind. He speaks directly to 
them. Every word must make its legitimate impression. He 
arouses and cultivates your conscience ; he makes you feel in- 
dignant and outraged at crimes committed against a brother- 
man. He is a lover of righteousness ; and to obtain it, he 
fears not to fight the world with a two-edged sword. Finally, 
the following were my 

Impressions when viewing him individually. I will now sum 
up the effects of this character upon the world. With his or- 
ganization, William Lloyd Garrison is sure to be cordially 
loved and appreciated by his friends, and thoroughly hated 
and misunderstood by his enemies. The superficial public will 
hate him — because he so peremptorily ignores their prudential- 
isms. To the politician, he is " a rebel" — because he will not 
consent to sell his soul to gain the world. To the business or 
mercantile man, he is " a fanatic" — because he is strictly un- 
worldly, self-sacrificing, and unselfish. To the slaveholder, he 



828 A PSYCHOMETRICAL EXAMINATION OF GAKRISON. 

is " a troublesome disunionist" — because be rebukes him for 
bis gigautic crimes, and bis wrongs against humanity be unspar- 
ingly exposes. To the devotee of creeds, be is " a blasphemer" 
— because be can not be a conservative except in what he feels 
and sees to be the Right, irrespective of forms, external au- 
thority, or precedent. To the bible or pen-and-ink Christian, 
he is " an infidel" — because he believes only in the spirit of 
Religion, and subjects the letter to free and unrestricted 
criticism. To the world he is "a radical Reformer" — because 
he can not hold fellowship with the agents and doers of 
manifest injustice. To his absolute friends, he is " the most 
sterling and important man" of this century — because they 
know him to be, in every essential particular, just what this 
psychometrical examination declares — nothing extenuated nor 
aught set down in malice. 



THE END. 



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